Rising abruptly from the surrounding deciduous forest is the spectacular monolith of Sigiriya (Lion's Rock). This huge piece of rock is the hardened remains of the magma-plug of an eroded long-extinct volcano. This spectacular landmark has clearly attracted considerable interest down the ages with evidence of human habitation extending back to prehistoric times. The Mahavamsa, the ancient historical record of Sri Lanka, suggests that it was King Kasyapa (AD 477 – 495), the patricidal king who by converting the rock into a spectacular citadel created a feature worthy of its UNESCO World Heritage site status.

Kasyapa was born on the wrong side of the royal bed clothes & being illegitimate had no rightful claim to the throne. His response to this predicament was to murder his father King Dhatusena by walling him up alive! Kasyapa's half-brother and rightful heir to the throne Mogallana was forced to flee to southern India but he vowed to return and revenge his father. Kasyapa knew this to be no idle threat so he moved his capital and the royal residence to Sigiriya where he created a spectacular fortified city with moats, terraces and water gardens. Whilst Sigiriya was Kasyapa's wonderful legacy to the world fate did not treat him kindly. History records that when his half-brother eventually returned with a formidable army Kasyapa rode out on his battle-elephant to meet the invaders but unfortunately the king's army deserted him and he subsequently took his own life. Shortly after the city at Sigiriya was abandoned and Mogallana returned the capital to Anuradhapura whilst Sigiriya became a Buddhist monastery.

Apart from the remnants of Kasyapa's garden citadel Sigiriya has two other outstanding features -the Mirror wall (which was made of some form of porcelain and was so highly polished that the King could see his relection in it) and the fabulous Sigiriya frescoes. Following the decline of Sigiriya the Mirror wall became the focus of ancient graffiti -mainly verses, some of which date back to the 8th century. People of all sorts wrote on this wall about various subjects such as love, irony, and life experiences. These scripts provide useful evidence of what life was like but also describe what Sigiriya was like.

The Sigiriya Frescoes were apparently very extensive in their heyday. In 1907 John Still wrote "The whole face of the hill appears to have been a gigantic picture gallery... the largest picture in the world perhaps". The paintings would have covered most of the western face of the rock, covering an area 140 metres long and 40 metres high. There are references in the graffiti to 500 ladies in these paintings. However, most were lost forever, having been "removed" when the Palace once more became a Monastery (the images of semi-naked beauties was felt to be a distraction to meditation!).

The climb up Sigiriya rock is steep, vertigenous but deeply satisfying once the top has been reached!