The Story of Sigiriya

The Story of Sigiriya is a beautifully illustrated easy to read book that presents the fascinating tale of Sigiriya in a new light. Senani is a brilliant storyteller, who for the very first time has brought the story of Sigiriya alive. Using a crisp narrative style and numerous asides he brings to light much new information and many previously unknown and overlooked facts. He sets the scene of the time over 1,500 years ago when this story unfolded, introduces us to the key characters, and then guides us through the events leading up to the creation, abandonment and rediscovery of what some consider the 8th Wonder of the World. In the included Site Guide he then continues to describe the ruins today with some of the most vivid and never before seen photographs of Sigiriya.

The Story of Sigiriya is that of King Kasyapa, a troubled but visionary monarch, who murders his father by plastering him up in a wall. Overcome by guilt he abandons his capital and flees deep in the forests of Sri Lanka. There in an area dominated by a menacing black rock, 600 feet high, he builds himself a new capital. He transforms the once sinister-looking rock to appear like a huge bedazzling white cloud and surrounds it with lush gardens, ponds, palaces and pavilions. Around its circumference of the rock he paints a spectacular multi-colored tapestry depicting celestial nymphs - the Sigiriya Frescoes. Halfway up this sheer rock he constructs a gatehouse in the form of a sphinx-like lion giving his lair its name, Sigiriya-Lion Mountain. Atop this gigantic rock he builds himself a gleaming white palace of unsurpassed beauty. There, hidden from view he lives in splendid isolation tormented by guilt and fear. Finally betrayed, he commits suicide. His magnificent city is quickly abandoned and soon forgotten. There it lies hidden for over a thousand years until rediscovered by an adventurous young British army officer while on an elephant hunt.