SIGIRIYA
|
One of Asia's major archaeological sites, Sigiriya presents a unique concentration of fifth-century urban planning, architecture, gardening, engineering, hydraulic technology and art. Centered on a massive rock rising 200 meters above the surrounding plain, Sigiriya s location is one of considerable natural beauty and historical interest. An area of ancient settlement lying between the historic capitals of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruva, the Sigiriya plain still retains much of its forest cover, and many of its present village settlements and man-made village reservoirs date back to the first millennium B.C. In its present form, Sigiriya itself is essentially a walled-and-molted royal capital of the fifth century A.D., with a palace complex on top of the rock, elaborate pleasure gardens, extensive moats and ramparts, and the well-known paintings on the western face of the rock.
The history of Sigiriya, however, extends from prehistoric times to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The earliest evidence of human habitation is in the Aligala rock-shelter which lies to the east of the Sigiriya rock. This is a major prehistoric site of the Mesolithic period, with an occupational sequence starting nearly five thousand years ago and extending up to early historic times. The historical period at Sigiriya begins about the third century B.C., with the establishment of a Buddhist monastic settlement on the rock-strewn western and northern slopes of the hill around the rock. As in other similar sites of this period, partially man-made rock-shelters or 'caves', with deeply-incised protective grooves or drip ledges, were created in the bases of several large boulders. There are altogether 30 such shelters, many of them dated by the donators inscriptions carved in the rock face near their drip-ledges to a period between the third century B.C., and the first century A.D. The inscriptions record the granting of these caves to the Buddhist monastic order to be used as residences.
Kasyapa, the master builder
Sigiriya comes dramatically, if tragically, into the political history of Sri Lanka in the last quarter of the fifth century during the reign of King Dhatusena I (459-477 A.D.), who ruled from the ancient capital at Anuradhapura. A palace coup by Prince Kasyapa, the King's son by a non-royal consort, and Migara, the king's nephew and army commander, led ultimately to the seizure of the throne and the subsequent execution of Dhatusena. Kasyapa, much reviled for his patricide, established a new capital at Sigiriya, while the crown prince, his half-brother Moggallana, went into exile in India. Kasyapa 1 (477-495 A.D.) and his master-builders gave the site its present name, 'Simha-girl' or 'Lion-Mountain', and were responsible for most of the structures and the complex plan that we see today. This brief Kasyapan phase was the golden age of Sigiriya.
The post-Kasyapan phases, when Sigiriya was turned back into a Buddhist monastery, seem to have lasted until the thirteenth or fourteenth century. Sigiriya then disappears for a time from the history of Sri Lanka until, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it appears again as a distant outpost and military centre of the Kingdom of Kandy.
The history of Sigiriya, however, extends from prehistoric times to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The earliest evidence of human habitation is in the Aligala rock-shelter which lies to the east of the Sigiriya rock. This is a major prehistoric site of the Mesolithic period, with an occupational sequence starting nearly five thousand years ago and extending up to early historic times. The historical period at Sigiriya begins about the third century B.C., with the establishment of a Buddhist monastic settlement on the rock-strewn western and northern slopes of the hill around the rock. As in other similar sites of this period, partially man-made rock-shelters or 'caves', with deeply-incised protective grooves or drip ledges, were created in the bases of several large boulders. There are altogether 30 such shelters, many of them dated by the donators inscriptions carved in the rock face near their drip-ledges to a period between the third century B.C., and the first century A.D. The inscriptions record the granting of these caves to the Buddhist monastic order to be used as residences.
Kasyapa, the master builder
Sigiriya comes dramatically, if tragically, into the political history of Sri Lanka in the last quarter of the fifth century during the reign of King Dhatusena I (459-477 A.D.), who ruled from the ancient capital at Anuradhapura. A palace coup by Prince Kasyapa, the King's son by a non-royal consort, and Migara, the king's nephew and army commander, led ultimately to the seizure of the throne and the subsequent execution of Dhatusena. Kasyapa, much reviled for his patricide, established a new capital at Sigiriya, while the crown prince, his half-brother Moggallana, went into exile in India. Kasyapa 1 (477-495 A.D.) and his master-builders gave the site its present name, 'Simha-girl' or 'Lion-Mountain', and were responsible for most of the structures and the complex plan that we see today. This brief Kasyapan phase was the golden age of Sigiriya.
The post-Kasyapan phases, when Sigiriya was turned back into a Buddhist monastery, seem to have lasted until the thirteenth or fourteenth century. Sigiriya then disappears for a time from the history of Sri Lanka until, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it appears again as a distant outpost and military centre of the Kingdom of Kandy.
Urban form
| |
One of the most important aspects of the archaeology of Sigiriya is that it is one of the best-preserved and most elaborate surviving urban sites in South Asia from the first millennium A.D. What we know presently about its urban form is that it consists of a series of concentric precinc the outermost of which, not yet completely surveyed seems to form a precise geometrical rectangle. These successive precincts are centered on the great Sigiriya rock, a massive monadnock or inselberg rising about 200 meters above the surrounding plain. It has a part-natural, part man-made, stepped plateau of about 1.5 hectares on its summit. On this plateau is located the royal palace and the immediate palace gardens.
The palace stands about 360 meters above mean sea level and 200 meters above the surrounding plain. On the plain below, extending cast and west are two fortified precincts, 90 and 40 hectares in extent. Around the rock itself is a walled citadel' or inner royal precinct, covering an area of about 15 hectares. This citadel presents an irregular, broadly elliptical plan, more or Discs defining the outer limits of the hill slopes around the base of the rock. This boulder-strewn hillside has been fashioned into a series of terraces, forming a terraced garden around the rock. It also incorporates rock-shelters and rock-associated pavilions which form the distinctive architecture of the boulder gardens both to the west and the east of the citadel.
The area to the west of the citadel is laid out as a symmetrically planned royal park or pleasure-garden with elaborate water-retaining structures and surface and sub-surface hydraulic systems. It is surrounded by three ramparts and two moats forming a rectangle whose inner dimensions are about 900 by 800 meters. To the cast of the citadel extends the 'eastern precinct' or inner city', a rectangular form whose inner precincts measure about 700 meters from cast to west and 500 meters from north to south with a high earthen rampart, gateways and vestiges of a moat. Our present interpretation of this area is that it represents a ceremonial precinct with no permanent structures other than a large central pavilion erected on a long, low, rock outcrop. The outermost rampart of the Sigiriya complex is today a low, much eroded vestigial earthen embankment defining the extent of the still largely uninve4igated eastern residential or 'outer city' area. This is more or less laid out as a rectangle, 1,000 by 1,500 meters, with two eastern gateways, suburban settlements beyond its northern walls, and the great man-made Sigiriya Lake to its south.
Among the most remarkable, aspects of the urban form at Sigiriya are its planning mathematics and total design concept. I -he plan of the city is based on a precise square module. 'I he layout extends outward from the coordinates at the centre of the palace complex on top of the rock. The eastern and western entrances are directly aligned with the central east-west axis. The royal water-gardens and the moats and ramparts of the western precinct are based on an 'echo plan, which duplicates the layout on either side of the north-south and east-west axes.
In its total conception Sigiriya represents a brilliant combination of concepts of symmetry and asymmetry in a deliberate interlocking of geometrical plan and natural form.
City of Sigiriya
01. Outer Moat and Rrnupart
02. Mapagala Complex
03. Outer City
04. Inner Moat and Rampart
05. Entrances
06. Water Gardens
07. Boulder Gardens
08. Terrace Gardens
09. Mirror Wall and Paintings
10. Lion Platform
11. palace at the summit
12. Inner City, Ramparts and Gates
The palace stands about 360 meters above mean sea level and 200 meters above the surrounding plain. On the plain below, extending cast and west are two fortified precincts, 90 and 40 hectares in extent. Around the rock itself is a walled citadel' or inner royal precinct, covering an area of about 15 hectares. This citadel presents an irregular, broadly elliptical plan, more or Discs defining the outer limits of the hill slopes around the base of the rock. This boulder-strewn hillside has been fashioned into a series of terraces, forming a terraced garden around the rock. It also incorporates rock-shelters and rock-associated pavilions which form the distinctive architecture of the boulder gardens both to the west and the east of the citadel.
The area to the west of the citadel is laid out as a symmetrically planned royal park or pleasure-garden with elaborate water-retaining structures and surface and sub-surface hydraulic systems. It is surrounded by three ramparts and two moats forming a rectangle whose inner dimensions are about 900 by 800 meters. To the cast of the citadel extends the 'eastern precinct' or inner city', a rectangular form whose inner precincts measure about 700 meters from cast to west and 500 meters from north to south with a high earthen rampart, gateways and vestiges of a moat. Our present interpretation of this area is that it represents a ceremonial precinct with no permanent structures other than a large central pavilion erected on a long, low, rock outcrop. The outermost rampart of the Sigiriya complex is today a low, much eroded vestigial earthen embankment defining the extent of the still largely uninve4igated eastern residential or 'outer city' area. This is more or less laid out as a rectangle, 1,000 by 1,500 meters, with two eastern gateways, suburban settlements beyond its northern walls, and the great man-made Sigiriya Lake to its south.
Among the most remarkable, aspects of the urban form at Sigiriya are its planning mathematics and total design concept. I -he plan of the city is based on a precise square module. 'I he layout extends outward from the coordinates at the centre of the palace complex on top of the rock. The eastern and western entrances are directly aligned with the central east-west axis. The royal water-gardens and the moats and ramparts of the western precinct are based on an 'echo plan, which duplicates the layout on either side of the north-south and east-west axes.
In its total conception Sigiriya represents a brilliant combination of concepts of symmetry and asymmetry in a deliberate interlocking of geometrical plan and natural form.
City of Sigiriya
01. Outer Moat and Rrnupart
02. Mapagala Complex
03. Outer City
04. Inner Moat and Rampart
05. Entrances
06. Water Gardens
07. Boulder Gardens
08. Terrace Gardens
09. Mirror Wall and Paintings
10. Lion Platform
11. palace at the summit
12. Inner City, Ramparts and Gates
The most famous features of the Sigiriya complex are the fifth-century paintings found in a depression on the rock face more than 100 meters above ground level. Reached today by a modern spiral staircase, they are but fragmentary survivals of an immense backdrop of paintings that once extended in a wide band across the western face of the rock. The painted band seems to have extended to the north-eastern corner of the rock, covering thereby an area nearly 140 meters long and, at its widest, about 40 meters high. As John Still observed, 'The whole face of the hill appears to have been a gigantic picture Gallery ... the largest picture in the world perhaps' (Still 1907: I5).
All that survives of this great painted backdrop are the female figures preserved in two adjacent depressions in the rock-face known as 'Fresco Pocket A and 'Fresco Pocket B' (three other depressions: 'Fresco Pockets C, D and E higher up the rock-face, also contain patches of plaster and pigment and, in at least one instance, fragments of a painted figure). Traces of plaster and pigment elsewhere on the rock-face provide further evidence of the extent of the painted band. They represent
All that survives of this great painted backdrop are the female figures preserved in two adjacent depressions in the rock-face known as 'Fresco Pocket A and 'Fresco Pocket B' (three other depressions: 'Fresco Pockets C, D and E higher up the rock-face, also contain patches of plaster and pigment and, in at least one instance, fragments of a painted figure). Traces of plaster and pigment elsewhere on the rock-face provide further evidence of the extent of the painted band. They represent
Apsaras or celestial nymphs, a common motif in the religious and royal art of Asia.
The Sigiriya paintings have been the focus of considerable interest and attention in both ancient and modern times. The poems in the graffiti on the Mirror Wall, discussed below, dating from about the sixth to the thirteenth or fourteenth century, are mostly addressed to the ladies in the paintings, who seem also to have been studied and reproduced in the eighteenth century by the Kandyan artists who painted the Dambulla murals. Antiquarian descriptions of the figures in the 'fresco pock, [' date back to the 1830s. The first proper descriptions in the nineteenth century are based on the examination of the paintings by telescope from the plain below. The first person in modern times to find his way into the fresco pocket and come face to face with the paintings was an engineer named Murray of the Public Works Department. He made tracings, copied them in pastel and published a paper in 1891.
I he first real study of the paintings, however, begins with the commencement of archaeological operations at Sigiriya by H.C.P. Bell from 1894 onwards and the facsimile copies in oils made by Muhandiram D.A.L-Perera in 1896-7.
The Sigiriya paintings have been the focus of considerable interest and attention in both ancient and modern times. The poems in the graffiti on the Mirror Wall, discussed below, dating from about the sixth to the thirteenth or fourteenth century, are mostly addressed to the ladies in the paintings, who seem also to have been studied and reproduced in the eighteenth century by the Kandyan artists who painted the Dambulla murals. Antiquarian descriptions of the figures in the 'fresco pock, [' date back to the 1830s. The first proper descriptions in the nineteenth century are based on the examination of the paintings by telescope from the plain below. The first person in modern times to find his way into the fresco pocket and come face to face with the paintings was an engineer named Murray of the Public Works Department. He made tracings, copied them in pastel and published a paper in 1891.
I he first real study of the paintings, however, begins with the commencement of archaeological operations at Sigiriya by H.C.P. Bell from 1894 onwards and the facsimile copies in oils made by Muhandiram D.A.L-Perera in 1896-7.
Meaning and style
Number of ways, sometimes quite fancifully. Of the Proposals that deserve scholarly consideration the Three most important ones are those of Bell, Ananda Koomaraswamy and Senerath Paranavitana.
Bell's idea that they portray the ladies of Kasyapa's court in a devotional procession to the shrine at Pidurangala is a purely imaginative reconstruction and has no precedent in the artistic and social traditions of the region or the period. It seems quite likely, however, that the court ladies and their costumes and ornaments provided models for the Sigiriya artists and that, as such, the paintings reflect the life and atmosphere, the ideals of beauty and the attitude to women, of the elite society of the time.
Paranavitana's suggestion that they represent Lightning Princesses (vilju kuman) and Cloud Damsels (meghalata) is an interpretation at once more literary and sociological. It forms part of his elaborate hypothesis, which attempts to explain Sigiriya as an expression of the cult of divine royalty, the entire palace complex being a symbolic reconstruction of the abode of the god Kuvera.
While these identifications may seem to us today an over interpretation too specific to accept in its totality, deriving from Paranavitana's attempt to see the Sigiriya palace and royal complex primarily as an expression of divine kingship, they do draw our attention to important sociological dimensions in the understanding of ancient works of art. There is no doubt that the spatial organization and symbolism of the Sigiriya
Bell's idea that they portray the ladies of Kasyapa's court in a devotional procession to the shrine at Pidurangala is a purely imaginative reconstruction and has no precedent in the artistic and social traditions of the region or the period. It seems quite likely, however, that the court ladies and their costumes and ornaments provided models for the Sigiriya artists and that, as such, the paintings reflect the life and atmosphere, the ideals of beauty and the attitude to women, of the elite society of the time.
Paranavitana's suggestion that they represent Lightning Princesses (vilju kuman) and Cloud Damsels (meghalata) is an interpretation at once more literary and sociological. It forms part of his elaborate hypothesis, which attempts to explain Sigiriya as an expression of the cult of divine royalty, the entire palace complex being a symbolic reconstruction of the abode of the god Kuvera.
While these identifications may seem to us today an over interpretation too specific to accept in its totality, deriving from Paranavitana's attempt to see the Sigiriya palace and royal complex primarily as an expression of divine kingship, they do draw our attention to important sociological dimensions in the understanding of ancient works of art. There is no doubt that the spatial organization and symbolism of the Sigiriya
Complex is profoundly determined by the cult of the king and the ideology of kingship. The great tapestry of paintings at Sigiriya, the palace on the summit and the lion staircase, are all part of a complex 'sign-language' expressing royal power and ritual status.
Coomaraswamy's identification of the Sigiriya women as apsaras is in keeping with well-established South Asian traditions and is not only the simplest but also the most logical and acceptable interpretation. Recent studies have reinforced this idea, showing that apsaras arc often represented in art and literature as celestial beings that carried flowers and scattered them over kings and heroes as a celebration of victory and heroism. We can say almost with certainty that the Sigiriya ladies are celestial nymphs, very similar in essence to their successors thirteen hundred years later in the 'Daughters of Mara panel from Dambulla, but it is also likely that they had more than one meaning and function: as expressions of royal grandeur and status and as artistic evocations of courtly life, with aesthetic and erotic dimensions.
Such an interpretation, with its varying levels of ambiguity, allows us to accommodate both Bell's and Paranavitana s suggestions at either end of a semi logical spectrum. It also makes it possible for us to view the painted band at Sigiriya as a rare and early survival of a royal citrasa/a, or picture Gallery, well known in Indian literature and implicit in the Culavamsa account of Parakramabahu s palaces and audience halls at Polonnaruva.
The style and authorship of the paintings hayc had been as controversial a question as that of their identity. Early writers such as Bell, and even Coomaraswamy, saw them as extensions of the Central Indian School of Ajanta or of several related traditions such as those of Bagh or of Sittanvasal in South India. Bell even suggested that 'artists trained in the same school possibly the same hands - executed both the Indian and Ceylon frescoes'. These were views expressed at a time when very little was known of the extent and character of early Sri Lankan painting.
Benjamin Rowland was amongst the first to observe carefully the actual painterly technique at Sigiriya and to note in what specific way it differed from Ajanta and other sub continental traditions: 'The Sigiriya paintings, outside of their exciting and intrinsic beauty, are perhaps most notable for the very freedom they show at a time when the arts were tending to become more and more frozen in the mould of rigid canons of beauty. The apsaras have a rich healthy flavor that in contrast almost makes the masterpieces of Indian art seem sallow and effete in over-refinement. Just as the drawing is more vigorous than that of the more sophisticated artists of India, so colors are bolder and more intense than the tonalities employed in the temples of the Deccan' (Rowland 1938: 8q).
These insights have been pursued and reinforced by contemporary Sri Lankan scholars, who rightly argue that, while the Sri Lankan paintings belong to the same broad traditions of South Asian art as the various sub continental schools of the time, the specific character and historical continuity of the Sri Lankan tradition give it its own
Coomaraswamy's identification of the Sigiriya women as apsaras is in keeping with well-established South Asian traditions and is not only the simplest but also the most logical and acceptable interpretation. Recent studies have reinforced this idea, showing that apsaras arc often represented in art and literature as celestial beings that carried flowers and scattered them over kings and heroes as a celebration of victory and heroism. We can say almost with certainty that the Sigiriya ladies are celestial nymphs, very similar in essence to their successors thirteen hundred years later in the 'Daughters of Mara panel from Dambulla, but it is also likely that they had more than one meaning and function: as expressions of royal grandeur and status and as artistic evocations of courtly life, with aesthetic and erotic dimensions.
Such an interpretation, with its varying levels of ambiguity, allows us to accommodate both Bell's and Paranavitana s suggestions at either end of a semi logical spectrum. It also makes it possible for us to view the painted band at Sigiriya as a rare and early survival of a royal citrasa/a, or picture Gallery, well known in Indian literature and implicit in the Culavamsa account of Parakramabahu s palaces and audience halls at Polonnaruva.
The style and authorship of the paintings hayc had been as controversial a question as that of their identity. Early writers such as Bell, and even Coomaraswamy, saw them as extensions of the Central Indian School of Ajanta or of several related traditions such as those of Bagh or of Sittanvasal in South India. Bell even suggested that 'artists trained in the same school possibly the same hands - executed both the Indian and Ceylon frescoes'. These were views expressed at a time when very little was known of the extent and character of early Sri Lankan painting.
Benjamin Rowland was amongst the first to observe carefully the actual painterly technique at Sigiriya and to note in what specific way it differed from Ajanta and other sub continental traditions: 'The Sigiriya paintings, outside of their exciting and intrinsic beauty, are perhaps most notable for the very freedom they show at a time when the arts were tending to become more and more frozen in the mould of rigid canons of beauty. The apsaras have a rich healthy flavor that in contrast almost makes the masterpieces of Indian art seem sallow and effete in over-refinement. Just as the drawing is more vigorous than that of the more sophisticated artists of India, so colors are bolder and more intense than the tonalities employed in the temples of the Deccan' (Rowland 1938: 8q).
These insights have been pursued and reinforced by contemporary Sri Lankan scholars, who rightly argue that, while the Sri Lankan paintings belong to the same broad traditions of South Asian art as the various sub continental schools of the time, the specific character and historical continuity of the Sri Lankan tradition give it its own
Distinctive place in the art of the region. Thus, the Sigiriya paintings represent the earliest surviving examples of a Sri Lankan school of classical realism, already fully evolved when we first encounter it in the fifth century
The Boulder-Garden Paintings
| |
The most ambitious composition can he found on a large area of plaster in Cave 7 where there are faint traces of several female figures carrying flowers and moving amidst clouds, again in a northerly direction, very much like the apsaras on the main rock above. Even in ornamentation and general figural treatment, these women are broadly similar to those in the famous paintings, except for the fact that at least three of them are not cut off at the waist by clouds but are full-figure representations, with legs bent in a conventional flying posture. Altogether there are less than half a dozen distinct forms here, barely discernible in traces of body color and line work.
The most extraordinary and certainly the most dramatic manifestations of the painter's art at Sigiriya are the remains of ceiling paintings in the rock shelter popularly known as the 'Cobra-hood Cave' (Cave 9) on account of its equally dramatic rock formation. The shelter itself dates from the earliest phase' of -collusion at Sigiriya and; gars a donator inscription belonging to the last few centuries 13.C. The painting combines geometrical shapes and motifs with a free and complex rendering of characteristic volute or whorl motifs. It is nothing less than a masterpiece of expressionist painting, displaying considerable imaginative range and artistic virtuosity in a way not seen elsewhere in the surviving paintings of the Sri Lankan tradition. The characteristic- brushwork style and tonal qualities of the Sigiriya School are immediately noticeable here. There is little doubt that this awning is contemporary with the paintings on the main rock.
Further excavation in [lie caves of the boulder garden and detailed investigation of plaster layers and pigments will give us a much clearer idea of the, successive phases of artistic activity at Sigiriya.
Considered in their totality, the paintings in the garden area it Sigiriya, though vestigial, provide important evidence of the continuation of ill (, Sigiriya school over a fair period of time. Excavations have shown several post-fifth-century phases of occupation in the rock shelters in this area, continuing until perhaps as late as tile twelfth or thirteenth century. This situation is paralleled by tile layers of plaster and painting Which provide evidence of several successive phases of painterly activity at Sigiriya.
The Sigiriya Graffiti
The Sigiriya paintings have preoccupied visitors to the site over many centuries. After Ilu, abandonment of the palace in the fifth or sixth century and Ill(, establishment of a monastery in the holder and water garden area to the west of the rock, Sigiriya became a place of pilgrimage for visitors from all over the country, who came to see the paintings, the palace and the lion staircase. Greatly inspired by the paintings, they composed poems addressed mostly to the ladies depicted in them and inscribed their verses on the highly polished surface of the Mirror Wall just below the painting Gallery. Known as the 'Sigiri graffiti' and dating from about the sixth to the early fourteenth century, hundreds of these scribbled verses cover the surface of the gallery wall and also some of the plastered surfaces in the caves below. Nearly seven hundred of these were deciphered by paranavitana, and; mother 150 recently by Benille Priyanka. The poems, which express the thoughts and emotions of ancient visitors to Sigiriya, provide not only revealing comments on the paintings themselves but also an insight into the cultivated sensibilities of the time and its appreciation of art and beauty.
Early Souvenir Sculptures
Closely connected with the paintings and the poetry are a series of miniature terracotta figurines found in the debris of collapsed structures in the Boulder Garden area on the western slopes at the base , of the Sigiriya rock. These are among the most interesting archaeological finds from nearly a decade of Cultural triangle excavations at Sigiriya. Most of the figurines appear today as female torsos, modeled in the familiar 'classic - realist' style of the Middle Historical period (circa sixth to thirteenth century). The modeling of the figurines shows a characteristic concern with three-dimensional form and sensitivity to both anatomical and decorative detail. From their archaeological context and style we may tentatively date them to a period between the seventh and the tenth centuries. As for as we know, terracotta figures of this specific type have only been found at Sigiriya, but they are clearly related to a contemporary tradition of fine terracotta sculpture associated with other sites in the region.
What is particularly interesting is that these figures arc, representations or models of the famous apsaras of the Sigiriya paintings. The concept of the unity of sculpture and painting i.e. the equivalence of the tree ¬ dimensional and the two-dimensional image, is
What is particularly interesting is that these figures arc, representations or models of the famous apsaras of the Sigiriya paintings. The concept of the unity of sculpture and painting i.e. the equivalence of the tree ¬ dimensional and the two-dimensional image, is
A basic principle of South and Southeast Asian art. What is rare, perhaps even unique, at this early period in to find ancient works of art which are deliberate representations or, in this case, actual models or miniature reproductions of other works of art, a process which can be described as 'art about art’?
The correspondences between the paintings and the sculptures and the diminutive size of the latter (usually between 10 and 20 (in) suggest that the figurines were portable objects and not part of any fixed architectural decoration - further supporting the notion that they arc, models or souvenirs'. The production of models and souvenirs to he carried away by pilgrims visiting famous religious centers is, of course, an ancient practice, well-known in the art and archaeology of Asia. Sigiriya, however, is an example of a site, rare in the archaeological record, which seems to have been visited purely on account of its secular aesthetic and archaeological' attractions.
The verses are mostly addressed to the ladies in the paintings, thus, the terracotta figurines seem to have been produced as souvenirs to be taken away by visitors who appreciated the paintings. This interpretation is preferable to one that would view the figures as decorative or iconic sculptures associated with the monastic structures amongst whose debris they occur.
The Sigiriya torsos, like the poems on the Mirror Wall, are undoubtedly an expression of 'art about art'. They interest us not only as beautiful terracotta sculptures but also as unique historical documents, supplementing the insights we gain from the poems into the society and sensibilities of the period.
The correspondences between the paintings and the sculptures and the diminutive size of the latter (usually between 10 and 20 (in) suggest that the figurines were portable objects and not part of any fixed architectural decoration - further supporting the notion that they arc, models or souvenirs'. The production of models and souvenirs to he carried away by pilgrims visiting famous religious centers is, of course, an ancient practice, well-known in the art and archaeology of Asia. Sigiriya, however, is an example of a site, rare in the archaeological record, which seems to have been visited purely on account of its secular aesthetic and archaeological' attractions.
The verses are mostly addressed to the ladies in the paintings, thus, the terracotta figurines seem to have been produced as souvenirs to be taken away by visitors who appreciated the paintings. This interpretation is preferable to one that would view the figures as decorative or iconic sculptures associated with the monastic structures amongst whose debris they occur.
The Sigiriya torsos, like the poems on the Mirror Wall, are undoubtedly an expression of 'art about art'. They interest us not only as beautiful terracotta sculptures but also as unique historical documents, supplementing the insights we gain from the poems into the society and sensibilities of the period.
The Royal Gardens
One of the major foci of the Cultural Triangle excavations has been the Sigiriya gardens. Sigiriya provides us with a unique and relatively little known example of what is one of the oldest landscaped gardens in the world, whose skeletal layout and significant features are still in a fair state of preservation.
Three distinct but interlinked forms are found here: water gardens, cave and boulder gardens, and stepped or terraced gardens encircling the rock. A combination of these three garden types is also seen in the palace gardens on the summit of the rock
Three distinct but interlinked forms are found here: water gardens, cave and boulder gardens, and stepped or terraced gardens encircling the rock. A combination of these three garden types is also seen in the palace gardens on the summit of the rock
The Water Gardens
The water gardens arc, perhaps, the most extensive and intricate, and occupy the central section of the western precinct. 'Three principal gardens lie along the central cast-west axis. The largest of these, Garden 1, consists of a central island surrounded by water and linked to the main precinct by cardinally oriented causeways. The quartered or char bhag plan thus created constitutes a well-known ancient garden form, of which the Sigiriya version is one of the oldest surviving examples. The entire garden is a walled enclosure with gateways placed at the head of each causeway. The largest of these gateways, to the west, has a triple entrance. The cavity left by the massive timber doorposts indicates that it was an elaborate gatehouse of timber and brick masonry with multiple, tiled roofs.
Garden 2, the 'Fountain Garden', is a narrow precinct on two levels. The lower, western half has two long, deep pools with stepped cross-sections. Draining into these pools arc shallow serpentine 'streams' paved with marble slabs and defined kerbs. These serpentines are punctuated by fountains, consisting of circular limestone plates with symmetrical perforations. They are fed by underground water conduits and operate on a simple principle of gravity and pressure. With the cleaning and repair of the underground conduits, the fountains operate in rainy weather even today.
Two relatively shallow limestone cisterns are placed on opposite sides of the garden. Square in plan and carefully constructed, they may well have originally functioned as storage or pressure chambers for the serpentine and the fountains. The eastern half of the garden, which is raised above the western section, has few distinctive features, a serpentine stream and a pavilion with a limestone throne being almost all that is visible today.
Garden 3, on a higher level consists of an extensive area of terrace and halls. Its northeastern corner is a large octagonal pool and terrace at the base of a towering boulder forming a dramatic juxtaposition of rock and water at the very point at which the water garden and boulder garden meet. A raised podium and a drip-ledge for a lean-to roof form the remains of a 'bathing pavilion' on the far side of till, pool.
The eastern limit of Garden 3 is marked by the, wide entrance and massive brick and stone wall of the citadel. The citadel wall forms a dramatic backdrop to the water gardens, echoing the even more dramatic vision of the great rock and the palace on its summit to the cast. When viewed from the water gardens, the wall extends from the towering boulder of Garden 3 to a matching bastion on the south-cast, formed by wide brick walls and a series of boulders which surround a cave pavilion housing a rock-cut throne.
The three water gardens form a dominant series of rectangular enclosures of varying size and character, joined together along a central cast-west axis. Moving away from this to the wider conception of the western precinct as a whole, we see that its other dominant feature is a sequence of four large mooted islands, arranged in a north-south oriented crescent, cutting across the central axis of the water garden. T these once ( again, follow the principle of symmetrical repetition, the two inner islands, on the one hand, Fountain, at play in the rainy season and the two outer islands, on the other, forming pairs.
The two inner islands closely abutting the Fountain Garden on either side are partially built up on surfacing bedrock. They are surrounded by high rubble walls and wide moats.
Garden 2, the 'Fountain Garden', is a narrow precinct on two levels. The lower, western half has two long, deep pools with stepped cross-sections. Draining into these pools arc shallow serpentine 'streams' paved with marble slabs and defined kerbs. These serpentines are punctuated by fountains, consisting of circular limestone plates with symmetrical perforations. They are fed by underground water conduits and operate on a simple principle of gravity and pressure. With the cleaning and repair of the underground conduits, the fountains operate in rainy weather even today.
Two relatively shallow limestone cisterns are placed on opposite sides of the garden. Square in plan and carefully constructed, they may well have originally functioned as storage or pressure chambers for the serpentine and the fountains. The eastern half of the garden, which is raised above the western section, has few distinctive features, a serpentine stream and a pavilion with a limestone throne being almost all that is visible today.
Garden 3, on a higher level consists of an extensive area of terrace and halls. Its northeastern corner is a large octagonal pool and terrace at the base of a towering boulder forming a dramatic juxtaposition of rock and water at the very point at which the water garden and boulder garden meet. A raised podium and a drip-ledge for a lean-to roof form the remains of a 'bathing pavilion' on the far side of till, pool.
The eastern limit of Garden 3 is marked by the, wide entrance and massive brick and stone wall of the citadel. The citadel wall forms a dramatic backdrop to the water gardens, echoing the even more dramatic vision of the great rock and the palace on its summit to the cast. When viewed from the water gardens, the wall extends from the towering boulder of Garden 3 to a matching bastion on the south-cast, formed by wide brick walls and a series of boulders which surround a cave pavilion housing a rock-cut throne.
The three water gardens form a dominant series of rectangular enclosures of varying size and character, joined together along a central cast-west axis. Moving away from this to the wider conception of the western precinct as a whole, we see that its other dominant feature is a sequence of four large mooted islands, arranged in a north-south oriented crescent, cutting across the central axis of the water garden. T these once ( again, follow the principle of symmetrical repetition, the two inner islands, on the one hand, Fountain, at play in the rainy season and the two outer islands, on the other, forming pairs.
The two inner islands closely abutting the Fountain Garden on either side are partially built up on surfacing bedrock. They are surrounded by high rubble walls and wide moats.
The flattened surface of the island was occupied by 'summer palaces' (Sinhalese: sitala maliga or cool palaces) or water pavilions. Bridges built or cut into the surface rock, provide access to these 'palaces'. Further to the north and south, almost abutting the ramparts, are the two other mooted islands, still unexcavated but clearly displaying the quartered or char bagh plan.
Intricately connected with the water gardens of the western precinct are the double moat that surrounds it and the great artificial Lake that extends southward from the Sigiriva rock. Excavations have revealed that the pools were interlinked by a network of underground conduits, red initially by the Sigiriya Lake and probably connected at various points with the surrounding moats
Intricately connected with the water gardens of the western precinct are the double moat that surrounds it and the great artificial Lake that extends southward from the Sigiriva rock. Excavations have revealed that the pools were interlinked by a network of underground conduits, red initially by the Sigiriya Lake and probably connected at various points with the surrounding moats
The Miniature Water Garden
To the west of Water Garden 1, recent excavations have revealed a miniature water garden very different in character from those described above.
There are at least five distinct units in this garden, each combining pavilions of brick and limestone with paved, water-retaining structures and winding water-courses. The two units at the northern and southern extremities are badly eroded, but the general layout of the major portion of the garden and of the three central units is clear.
A striking feature of this 'miniature' garden (it is in fact about ninety meters long and thirty wide) is the use of these water-surrounds with pebbled or marbled floors, covered by shallow, slowly-moving water. These, no doubt, served as a cooling device and at the same time had great aesthetic appeal, creating interesting visual and sound effects.
Another distinctive aspect is the geometrical intricacy of the garden layout. While displaying the symmetry and 'echo-planning characteristic of the water-gardens as a whole, this miniature garden has a far more complex interplay of tile-roofed buildings, water-retaining structures and water-courses than is seen elsewhere in Sigiriya; even more, intricate, in fact, than the beautiful 'Fountain Gardens?.
This newly - discovered garden seems to belong to more than one phase of construction. As far as we are able to say at this stage of our investigation, the garden seems originally to have been laid out as an extension and 'miniaturized refinement of the Kasyapan macro-plan and therefore belongs in essence to the last quarter of the fifth century: But it seems to have been added to later and remodeled and then finally abandoned and again partially built over in the last phases of the post Kasyapan period, between the tenth and thirteenth centuries.
It seems very likely that a similar garden lies buried beneath the lawns of the unexcavated parallel sector in the northern half of the water-gardens, an 'echo' or 'twin' of the present garden in the south.
There are at least five distinct units in this garden, each combining pavilions of brick and limestone with paved, water-retaining structures and winding water-courses. The two units at the northern and southern extremities are badly eroded, but the general layout of the major portion of the garden and of the three central units is clear.
A striking feature of this 'miniature' garden (it is in fact about ninety meters long and thirty wide) is the use of these water-surrounds with pebbled or marbled floors, covered by shallow, slowly-moving water. These, no doubt, served as a cooling device and at the same time had great aesthetic appeal, creating interesting visual and sound effects.
Another distinctive aspect is the geometrical intricacy of the garden layout. While displaying the symmetry and 'echo-planning characteristic of the water-gardens as a whole, this miniature garden has a far more complex interplay of tile-roofed buildings, water-retaining structures and water-courses than is seen elsewhere in Sigiriya; even more, intricate, in fact, than the beautiful 'Fountain Gardens?.
This newly - discovered garden seems to belong to more than one phase of construction. As far as we are able to say at this stage of our investigation, the garden seems originally to have been laid out as an extension and 'miniaturized refinement of the Kasyapan macro-plan and therefore belongs in essence to the last quarter of the fifth century: But it seems to have been added to later and remodeled and then finally abandoned and again partially built over in the last phases of the post Kasyapan period, between the tenth and thirteenth centuries.
It seems very likely that a similar garden lies buried beneath the lawns of the unexcavated parallel sector in the northern half of the water-gardens, an 'echo' or 'twin' of the present garden in the south.
The Boulder Garden
The boulder garden presents a garden design which is in marked contrast to the symmetry and geometry of the water gardens. It is an entirely organic or symmetrical conception, consisting of a number of winding pathways, which link several clusters of large natural boulders extending from the southern slopes of the Sigiriya hill to the northern slopes below the plateau of the lion staircase. One of the most striking features of this boulder garden is the way in which almost every rock and boulder had a building or pavilion set upon it. What seem to us today like steps and drains or a honeycomb of holes on the sides or tops of boulders, are in fact the foundations or footings of ancient brick walls and of timber columns and beams.
Among the unusual features of the garden are the impulsion of the Cistern Rock', taking its name from a large cistern formed out of massive slabs of granite, and the 'Audience Hall Rock' which has a flattened summit and a large 5-metre long throne carved out of the living rock. The honeycomb of post-holes and flattened ledges of the 'Preaching Rock' are others. While considerable excavation will have to be done before we can recover the original pathways of the boulder garden, at least two distinct markers are provided by two boulder arches and limestone staircases, as well as various flights of steps and passageways constructed of polished marble blocks and slabs. The vertical 'drains cut in the sides of rocks in a few places indicates that, water-courses and controlled water movement formed part of the garden architecture in this area too.
Among the unusual features of the garden are the impulsion of the Cistern Rock', taking its name from a large cistern formed out of massive slabs of granite, and the 'Audience Hall Rock' which has a flattened summit and a large 5-metre long throne carved out of the living rock. The honeycomb of post-holes and flattened ledges of the 'Preaching Rock' are others. While considerable excavation will have to be done before we can recover the original pathways of the boulder garden, at least two distinct markers are provided by two boulder arches and limestone staircases, as well as various flights of steps and passageways constructed of polished marble blocks and slabs. The vertical 'drains cut in the sides of rocks in a few places indicates that, water-courses and controlled water movement formed part of the garden architecture in this area too.
The Terraced Gardens
The third garden form at Sigiriya, the terraced gardens have been fashioned out of the natural hill at the base of the Sigiriya rock by the construction of a series of rubble-retaining walls, each terrace rising above the other and running in a roughly concentric plan around the rock.
The great brick-built staircases with limestone steps traverse the terrace gardens on the west, connect, the pathways of the boulder garden to the precipitous sides of the main Sigiriya rock itself. From here, a covered ambulatory or Gallery provides access to the belly of the rock to what is in effect the uppermost terrace, the 'Lion Staircase plateau', with its chambers, buildings and pavilions and the great lion itself.
The great brick-built staircases with limestone steps traverse the terrace gardens on the west, connect, the pathways of the boulder garden to the precipitous sides of the main Sigiriya rock itself. From here, a covered ambulatory or Gallery provides access to the belly of the rock to what is in effect the uppermost terrace, the 'Lion Staircase plateau', with its chambers, buildings and pavilions and the great lion itself.
The Mirror Wall
The Mirror Wall dates from the fifth century and has been substantially preserved in its original form. Built up from the base of the rock itself with brick masonry, the wall has a highly polished plaster finish, from which it gets its ancient name, the Mirror Wall. The wall encloses a walk or Gallery paved with polished marble slabs. The famous Sigiriya paintings arc found in a depression high above this gallery. The polished inner surface of the mirror wall contains the Sigiriya Graffiti as described above.
The Lion Staircase
One of Sigiriya s most dramatic features is its great Lion Staircase, now preserved only in two colossal paws and a mass of brick masonry surrounding the ancient limestone steps.
The lion, so impressive even in its ruined state today, must have afforded a vision of grandeur and majesty when it was intact. Remarkably, we have poems recording the impact of the Lion on ancient visitors to the site.
The monstrous Simha - suggestive of the legendary founder of the Sinhalese race - towering majestically against the granite cliff, bright colored, and gazing northwards over a vista that stretches almost hill-less to the horizon, must have presented an awe-inspiring sight for miles around. (H.C.P. Bell 1904: 9)
We know from the chronicle account of Kasyapa's construction of Sigiriya that the Lion Staircase House was one of the principle features of his plan of the Sigiriya complex. The Lion was in effect the ultimate and solitary gatehouse to the palace on the summit.
At the same time it made a major symbolic statement, operating on several levels of meaning, enhancing the power and majesty of royal authority and invoking ritual notions of dynastic origins, the Lion being the mythical ancestor and the royal symbol of the Sri Lankan Kings.
The actual structure of the Lion Staircase House itself can be at least partially reconstructed from the evidence still remaining at the site. The paws, the serving masses of brick masonry and the original limestone risers give us a clear idea of the form, scale and materials used in the construction of the Lion: basically a prick masonry structure with its surface molded fairly realistically in a thick coating of lime plaster. The Lion seems to have been in a crouching position, represented by its paws, head and shoulders projecting from the rock. The exact width and height of the Lion is indicated by cuts and grooves in the rock-face. It is likely that timber posts, beams and lintels were used inside the brick masonry to create the passages for the stairs, the decay of this timber framework leading ultimately to the collapse of a substantial part of the entire structure.
The Lion Staircase House stood to a height of fourteen meters. Above this the gently-sloping rock face was utilized once again to erect a gently ascending Gallery and staircase, presumably of brick masonry with stone risers.
The lion, so impressive even in its ruined state today, must have afforded a vision of grandeur and majesty when it was intact. Remarkably, we have poems recording the impact of the Lion on ancient visitors to the site.
The monstrous Simha - suggestive of the legendary founder of the Sinhalese race - towering majestically against the granite cliff, bright colored, and gazing northwards over a vista that stretches almost hill-less to the horizon, must have presented an awe-inspiring sight for miles around. (H.C.P. Bell 1904: 9)
We know from the chronicle account of Kasyapa's construction of Sigiriya that the Lion Staircase House was one of the principle features of his plan of the Sigiriya complex. The Lion was in effect the ultimate and solitary gatehouse to the palace on the summit.
At the same time it made a major symbolic statement, operating on several levels of meaning, enhancing the power and majesty of royal authority and invoking ritual notions of dynastic origins, the Lion being the mythical ancestor and the royal symbol of the Sri Lankan Kings.
The actual structure of the Lion Staircase House itself can be at least partially reconstructed from the evidence still remaining at the site. The paws, the serving masses of brick masonry and the original limestone risers give us a clear idea of the form, scale and materials used in the construction of the Lion: basically a prick masonry structure with its surface molded fairly realistically in a thick coating of lime plaster. The Lion seems to have been in a crouching position, represented by its paws, head and shoulders projecting from the rock. The exact width and height of the Lion is indicated by cuts and grooves in the rock-face. It is likely that timber posts, beams and lintels were used inside the brick masonry to create the passages for the stairs, the decay of this timber framework leading ultimately to the collapse of a substantial part of the entire structure.
The Lion Staircase House stood to a height of fourteen meters. Above this the gently-sloping rock face was utilized once again to erect a gently ascending Gallery and staircase, presumably of brick masonry with stone risers.
The Palace
The summit of the Sigiriya rock is in the form of a stepped plateau with a total extent of more than 1.5 hectares.
The palace was the centre of the royal city. Lying about I80m above the surrounding plain and 360 m above mean sea level at its highest point, it is not only the loftiest and inner-most precinct of the Sigiriya complex, but it is also the geometrical centre, of the ancient modular grid on which the plan of Sigiriya is based. The central north-south and east-west axes of the entire complex intersect near the mid-point of the palace area.
The earliest surviving palace in Sri Lanka, with its layout and basic ground plan still clearly visible, it provides important comparative data for the study of Asian palace forms.
The palace complex divides into three distinct parts: the outer or lower palace occupying the lower eastern part of the summit; the inner or upper palace occupying the high western section, and the palace gardens to the south. The three sectors converge on a large and beautiful rock-cut pool bordered on two sides by a stone-flagged pavement. A marble-paved walk runs down the centre of the complex between the outer and the inner palace, forming an axial north-south corridor
The palace was the centre of the royal city. Lying about I80m above the surrounding plain and 360 m above mean sea level at its highest point, it is not only the loftiest and inner-most precinct of the Sigiriya complex, but it is also the geometrical centre, of the ancient modular grid on which the plan of Sigiriya is based. The central north-south and east-west axes of the entire complex intersect near the mid-point of the palace area.
The earliest surviving palace in Sri Lanka, with its layout and basic ground plan still clearly visible, it provides important comparative data for the study of Asian palace forms.
The palace complex divides into three distinct parts: the outer or lower palace occupying the lower eastern part of the summit; the inner or upper palace occupying the high western section, and the palace gardens to the south. The three sectors converge on a large and beautiful rock-cut pool bordered on two sides by a stone-flagged pavement. A marble-paved walk runs down the centre of the complex between the outer and the inner palace, forming an axial north-south corridor
The Sigiriya Hinterland
The archaeology of the Sigiriya complex is not limited to the palace, the gardens and the city, but extends to a large hinterland known in ancient times as the 'Sihagiri Bim', the Sigiri Territory. Recent archaeological explorations have shown that this area presents a complex archaeological landscape consisting of a large number of rural settlement sites, village tanks, protohistoric cemeteries, major iron-producing centres, and a variety of Buddhist monasteries. The immediate greater Sigiriya area includes suburban settlements outside the city walls and along the Sigiri Oya. A major irrigation network to the south of the Sigiriya rock is formed by the Sigiri Mahavava, a great man-made lake more than eight kilometers in length, and the twelve - kilometer long Vavala canal network. Immediately to the north and south of the city are the ancient fortress of Ivlapagala, with its 'Cyclopean' walls, dating from the first to the third centuries A.D., and the major monastery complexes of Pidurangala and Ramakale. Recent studies of this remarkable landscape have made it one of the most intensively surveyed archaic -historical micro-regions in South Asia.
