Thursday 14 June 2012

Sigiriya (Lion Mountain)


Aerial view of the Lion's Paws area 




In 477 CE, prince Kashyapa seized the throne from King Dhatusena, following a coup assisted by Migara, the king’s nephew and army commander. Kashyapa, the king’s son by a non-royal consort, usurped the throne from the rightful heir, Moggallana, who fled to South India. Fearing an attack from Moggallana, Kashyapa moved the capital and his residence from the traditional capital of Anuradhapura to the more secure Sigiriya. During King Kashyapa’s reign (477 to 495), Sigiriya was developed into a complex city and fortress. Most of the elaborate constructions on the rock summit and around it, including defensive structures, palaces, and gardens, date back to this period.

Kashyapa was defeated in 495 by Moggallana, who moved the capital again to Anuradhapura. Sigiriya was then turned back into a Buddhist monastery, which lasted until the 13th or 14th century. After this period, no records are found on Sigiriya until the 16th and 17th centuries, when it was used as an outpost of the Kingdom of Kandy. When the kingdom ended, it was abandoned again.

The Mahavamsa, the ancient historical record of Sri Lanka, describes King Kashyapa as the son of King Dhatusena. Kashyapa murdered his father by walling him up alive and then usurping the throne which rightfully belonged to his brother Mogallana, Dhatusena's son by the true queen. Mogallana fled to India to escape being assassinated by Kashyapa but vowed revenge. In India he raised an army with the intention of returning and retaking the throne of Sri Lanka which he considered to be rightfully his. Knowing the inevitable return of Mogallana, Kashyapa is said to have built his palace on the summit of Sigiriya as a fortress and pleasure palace. Mogallana finally arrived and declared war. During the battle Kashyapa's armies abandoned him and he committed suicide by falling on his sword.

Chronicles and lore say that the battle-elephant on which Kashyapa was mounted changed course to take a strategic advantage, but the army misinterpreted the movement as the King having opted to retreat, prompting the army to abandon the king altogether. It is said that being too proud to surrender he took his dagger from his waistband, cut his throat, raised the dagger proudly, sheathed it, and fell dead.[citation needed] Moggallana returned the capital to Anuradapura, converting Sigiriya into a monastery complex.

Alternative stories have the primary builder of Sigiriya as King Dhatusena, with Kashyapa finishing the work in honour of his father. Still other stories have Kashyapa as a playboy king, with Sigiriya a pleasure palace. Even Kashyapa's eventual fate is uncertain. In some versions he is assassinated by poison administered by a concubine; in others he cuts his own throat when isolated in his final battle.[7] Still further interpretations have the site as the work of a Buddhist community, with no military function at all. This site may have been important in the competition between the Mahayana and Theravada Buddhist traditions in ancient Sri Lanka.

The earliest evidence of human habitation at Sigiriya was found from the Aligala rock shelter to the east of Sigiriya rock, indicating that the area was occupied nearly five thousand years ago during the Mesolithic Period.

Buddhist monastic settlements were established in the western and northern slopes of the boulder-strewn hills surrounding the Sigiriya rock, during the 3rd century BC. Several rock shelters or caves were created during this period. These shelters were made under large boulders, with carved drip ledges around the cave mouths. Rock inscriptions are carved near the drip ledges on many of the shelters, recording the donation of the shelters to the Buddhist monastic order as residences. These were made within the period between the 3rd century BC and the 1st century CE.


                 

Aerial view showing Sigiriya top 


  சிகிரியாக் குன்று (Sigiriya) இலங்கையின் இணையற்ற கலைப் பாரம்பரியத்தின் சின்னமாகக் கருதப்படுகிறது. இது மாத்தளை மாவட்டத்தில் தம்புள்ள நகரத்திற்கு அண்மையில் அமைந்துள்ளது. 1144-அடி உயரமான இக்குன்றினுள் அழகிய வேலைப்பாடுகளுடன் கூடிய சித்திரங்கள் பல உள்ளன. இவை 6-ம் நூற்றாண்டைச் சேர்ந்தவையாகும். எதிரிகளிடமிருந்து தன்னைப் பாதுகாத்துக் கொள்ளவே இக்கோட்டையை முதலாம் காசியப்பன் (கி.பி. 477-495) அமைத்தான். கோட்டையை சுற்றி அகழியும் கட்டப்பட்டுள்ளது. சிகிரியா குன்றானது ஐக்கிய நாடுகள் கல்வி, அறிவியல், பண்பாட்டு நிறுவனத்தால்(UNESCO) பாதுகாக்க படவேண்டிய உலக பாரம்பரியக் களமாக அறிவிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

வரலாறு

காசியப்பன் தாதுசேன மன்னனின் 2ஆவது மனைவிக்கு பிறந்த மகனாவான். தாதுசேனனுக்குப் பின் பட்டத்து இராணிக்குப் பிறந்த முகலனுக்கே அரச உரிமையுண்டு. எனினும் காசியப்பன் தந்தையைக் கொன்று, சிகிரியாவில் கோட்டை அமைத்து அரசாட்சி எய்தினான்.


ஒவியங்களின் சிறப்பு

இக் குகையினுள் ஃபிராஸ்கோ (FRASCO) முறையில் இயற்கை வர்ணங்கள் கொண்டு வரையப்பட்ட பல சித்திரங்கள் காணப்படுகின்றன. இவைகளில் பல இன்னும் அழியாமல் அழகாகக் காட்சி தருகின்றது. இந்த ஒவியங்களில் காணப்படும் பெண்கள் சிலரால் தேவதைகள் (அப்சரஸ்கள்) எனவும் சிலரால் காசியப்பனின் மனைவிகள் எனவும் கூறப்படுகின்றனர். இவர்களில் சிலர் கையில் தட்டை ஏந்தியவாறும், சிலர் மலர்க்கொத்தை ஏந்தியவாறும் சிலர் மேலாடை இன்றியும், சிலர் மேலாடையுடனும், தனித்தும், கூட்டமாகவும் வரையப்பட்டுள்ளன





The Cobra Head Rock 


View from the west entrance 


Garden of the Soul: looking down
The Paradisical Garden at Sihigiri or the Fields of the Blessed. The four gardens of Paradise are those of the Soul, Heart, Spirit and Essence symbolising the mystic journey of the soul. 


Rock and Garden of the Soul 


Sigiriya rock 


Sigiriya rock towering over the landscape. 







The Lion Gate and Final Climbing Stretch
File:Lions Paws.JPG




Close up of the Lions Paw


File:Lions Paw, Sigirya.jpg

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