Sigiriya Rock - an amazing ancient rock fortress that sits on a rock structure that juts out 200m above the surrounding jungles. To get to the top of the rock, it took us slightly more than half an hour to walk up 1200 steps to reach the peak. Not that bad.
As you enter the fortress compound, there is a museum which is worth visiting. You will see some pictures of early excavation and restoration works.
According to Sri Lankan history, Sigiriya Rock was selected by King Kasyapa as his new capital where he built a palace on top of this rock. After the King Kasyapa's death, the place was abandoned and was used as a Buddhist monastery until the 14th century.
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| Sigiriya Lion Rock - Sri Lanka |
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| Sigiriya Lion Rock - Sri Lanka |
This is where our journey of 1200 steps begins. Steps and steps.....
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| Sigiriya Lion Rock - Sri Lanka |
More steps !!
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Sigiriya Lion Rock - Sri Lanka
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Finally we reached the lion's gate where the 2 lion paws remain.... another flight of steps to go.
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| Sigiriya Lion Rock - Sri Lanka |
The second part of the walk was a bit scary for me. I had to keep my camera in my backpack so that I have both hands to hang on tightly to the metal railing.
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| Sigiriya Lion Rock - Sri Lanka |
After getting out of this spiral staircase, we got to see some remnants of frescoes which covered most part of the rock in ancient times. No photos were allowed here.
The view at the peak is amazing. No wonder King Kasyapa chose this site for his palace.
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| Sigiriya Lion Rock -Sri Lanka |
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| Sigiriya Lion Rock - Sri Lanka |
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| Sigiriya Lion Rock - Sri Lanka |
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| Sigiriya Lion Rock - Sri Lanka |
We spent quite an amount of time exploring the ruins at the peak of the Lion Rock and enjoying the view. All in we spent 4 hours visiting Sigiriya Rock, including 1 hour visiting the museum.
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