My country, Sri Lanka, is a very beautiful island in the Indian Ocean. There are many interesting and historical places in this beautiful island. Sigiriya, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Kandy and Nuwara Eliya are some of them. But, today, I am going to write about Sigiriya.
Sigiriya is a very interesting rock fortress. It is in the Central Province and is on the Central Province’s border with the North Central Province.
Sigiriya was built by King Kashyapa. He was very creative but unfortunately he also committed the sin of patricide.
Prince Kashyapa was the son of King Dathusena who was a great king of Sri Lanka. He did much to develop the irrigation systems of Sri Lanka and built the Kala Wewa. The prince wanted to get the throne from his father, King Dathusena. Prince Kashyapa was a very cruel person and he killed his father, King Dhathusena by walling him in the dam of the Kala Wewa.
The Prince, now King Kashyapa feared revenge from his brother Prince Moggallana and fled to the rock of Sigiriya to save his life. He made the Rock of Sigiriya in to a beautiful and strong fortress. The fortress was meant to ward off any attack by Prince Moggallana.
We can see ponds and ruins in Sigiriya. The ruins of King Kashyapa’s palace can be seen on top of the rock. There are many frescoes of beautiful women at Sigirya. Some are coloured in blue while other are gold in colour. Professor Senerath Paranavitane says that the blue coloured frescoes indicate rain clouds and the gold coloured frescoes indicate lightning.
The blue coloured frescoes are called Megha Latha and the gold coloured frescoes are known as Vijju Latha.
There are many free verses on the Mirror Wall at Sigiriya written by visitors in ancient times. They are very interesting and meaningful free verses. Some refer to the importance and beauty of Sigiriya.
There are many attractive fountains and other water features at Sigiriya. Though modern technology has been very successful experts and other people have still not found the secret of the water flow to some of the fountains at Sigiriya. Some think that the water comes from the top of the rock itself and high pressure makes the water flow to the fountains.
Sigiriya is important not only historically, it is an important place for Fine Arts as well.
The study of Sigiriya is included in the school curriculum as well. The subjects which include the study of Sigiriya are History, Buddhism, Sinhala literature, Fine Arts and Tamil. There is a special focus on the Sigiriya frescoes in Fine Arts.
Many tourists from around the world visit Sigiriya and admire its beauty and technology. Thousands of local visitors too visit Sigiriya.
Sigirya is known as the Eigth Wonder of the World and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Unfortunately, selfish visitors pollute Sigiriya and its eco system. They throw garbage, plastic and polythene and pollute the area and the waterways. Pollution is a burning issue in Sri Lanka and no suitable solution has been found yet. Therefore, Sigiriya too gets polluted.
A solution must be found to stop solution and safeguard not only Sigiriya but the country too.
Sudam Akalanka Jayasinghe
Grade 9
E. W. Adikaram College
Matugama