Despite missing out on Duran Duran's peak popularity, their music videos still left a valuable mark on my consciousness. One of them was for their song “Save a Prayer.” Shot on location in Sri Lanka, it features intoxicating scenes of temples, golden beaches, and ancient ruins. One particular part of the video stood out to me; it was the scene where Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes performed the song on top of a massive boulder surrounded by what looked like a set of ancient ruins.
Save a Prayer at Sigiriya Rock | Sri Lanka
Postcards, magazine covers, and travel narratives had kept reminding me of Sigiriya until the day came when I was finally able to pencil in a date for a trip to this fascinating, teardrop-shaped nation.
A few days before I flew out to Sri Lanka, I made a rough itinerary that left room for episodes of spontaneous detours. The only places I listed were Colombo—my inbound and outbound city—and Sigiriya. Anything else in between to fill my two-week solo backpacking trip was open to sudden wanderlust whims.
I ended up circling the UNESCO World Heritage loop covering Galle, Polonnaruwa, Kandy, and Dambulla, missing out only on Anuradhapura.
The Lion Rock
Right from the moment I took my first step, I felt my pulse racing with excitement at the thought of setting foot among the ruins of an old Ceylon civilization atop a six-hundred-foot massive rock column. It certainly was a dream realized. Sigiriya was chosen as the capital of King Kashyapa's kingdom during his reign from 477 to 495 CE. The place they call Sīnhāgiri or the “Lion Rock” (an etymology likened to Sinhapura or the Lion City—the Sanskrit name of Singapore) represented the peak of his rule both literally and figuratively.
Abandoned after his death, it became a Buddhist monastery until the fourteenth century. Evidence from the ruins suggests that Buddhist monks occupied it as early as 3000 BCE. Historians have faced challenges tracing the precise origins of Sigiriya. According to the Palm Leaf Book of Ravana Watha, which details the story of Ravana, the great king of Lanka, Sigiriya was built more than fifty centuries ago upon the order of King Visthavasa (father of Ravana) and was designed by Maya Davana, an ancient king known for his architectural brilliance.
As confusing as the history of the Lion Rock may be, one thing is crystal clear: it is incredibly ancient.
The passage of time had hidden the grandeur and historical significance of Sigiriya Rock until 1831, when members of the seventy-eighth Highlanders of the British Army, led by Major Jonathan Forbes, stumbled upon a bush-covered summit. Since then, the renaissance of Sigiriya was revealed to the world, as antiquarians and archaeologists converged on top of the Lion Rock to conduct extensive research.
Of Ancient Graffiti, Frescoes, and Water Gardens
At the halfway point of my climb, I reached the Mirror Wall, which at the time of King Kashyapa appeared almost like a looking glass due to its smooth texture, crafted from highly polished white plaster and masonry brick. Though it has faded over the centuries and appears bare today, a closer look reveals some of the oldest graffiti known in the world, where scribbled poems dating back to as early as the eighth century can still be read.
The renowned Sri Lankan archaeologist Dr. Senerat Paranavitana interpreted a total of six hundred eighty-five verses believed to have been written between the eighth and tenth centuries CE on the Mirror Wall. One of the verses, apparently inscribed by a lovelorn soul, reads (as translated from Sinhala):
“The girl with the golden skin enticed the mind and eyes. Ladies like you make men pour out their hearts. And you also have thrilled the body, making it stiffen with desire.”
As I negotiated the spiral staircase, I entered a small cave housing impressive fresco artworks. Known as “The Maidens of the Cloud,” the exquisite paintings of twenty-one women partaking in various religious rituals left me astonished by their smooth color tones and the preservation of their fine, rich details across centuries.
Heaving a series of deep breaths, I drank the last portion of my bottled water and made my way to the ruins of the lion’s paws, where the stone structures flank the final staircase leading up to the summit.
A few dozen more paces and I found myself stepping onto the summit, taking in the sweeping views of the Sigiriya gardens below. Looking around, I saw the structural remains of a palatial ruin forever lost to the passage of time.
As I sat and took a much-needed rest, I savored the sense of grandeur associated with this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Trudging my right foot over a mound of soil on the very same ground where Buddhist worshippers stood as early as 3000 BCE left me with a deep historical awareness. At that moment, elation filled my mind; I did not wish to be anywhere else.
