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Sigiriya
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How it came to be
In 5th-century Sri Lanka, Kashyapa I killed his father, King Dhatusena, took the throne and ruled from 477 to 495. He moved the capital from Anuradhapura to Sigiriya, a granite rock about 180 metres high, and built a palace and fortress on its summit. Halfway up, galleries and stairs led on from the mouth of a giant lion of brick and plaster, which gave the Lion Rock its name.
Figures were painted on the western face, and 18 survive. On the once-polished Mirror Wall, visitors, mostly of the 9th and 10th centuries, scratched verses that are among the oldest known writings in Sinhalese.
In 495 Kashyapa took his own life in battle against his half-brother Moggallana, who had returned from South India. The capital went back to Anuradhapura and Sigiriya became a Buddhist monastery. It was inscribed in 1982.
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