| Sigiriya Lion Rock citadel, also called Simha-giri (Sinhala: Lion Mountain) built by King Kasyapa (Kassapa) (479-497 A.D), grand nephew of Buddhist scholar monk illustrious Thera Mahanama, the first of the authors of Mahawamsa the great historical chronicle of Sri Lanka, is a fortified-walled and moated-royal city with living manifestations of glorious Sinhalese civilization: it's a unique combination of 5th century urban planning, architecture, engineering, hydraulic engineering, garden landscape designing, sculpture, art, painting and poetry. Sigiriya,a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is of immense archeological significance: it is one of the best preserved and most elaborate surviving urban sites in the South Asia from the first millennium A.D. The grand monuments of Sri Lanka such as great Buddhist monasteries, temples, stupas and statues were intended to serve as religious edifices. During the annals of history of Sri Lanka, these great monuments helped survive and revive the Sinhalese Buddhist Civilization threatened by the marauding Dravidian invaders from Southern India since ancient to medieval era and then again by the maritime powers of Portuguese, Dutch and the British who bent on ripping the island nation of its treasures during the colonial era. |
