The lofty rock of Sigiriya lies five and a half miles to the North-East of the turn at Inamaluva, Matale district, Sri Lanka between the 97th and 98th mile posts on the Colombo-Habarana main road.
It is 103 miles from Colombo, which is the economical Capital of the Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka.
The closest railway station to Sigiriya is Matale in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. It is 38 miles away from Sigiriya.
Different names have been attached to the rock fortress before king Kassapa finally named it as Sigiriya.
* " Chata mountain "
The Mahavamsa, a book which has been written about Sri Lankan history by a monk, namely Mahanama, says a miraculous incident happened at the time of the consecration of king Devanampiyatissa (307 - 267 B.C) " At the foot of the Chata mountain there grew up three bamboo stems in girth even as a waggon pole. Here Chata means bamboo. The reason to believe that this name has referred to Sigiriya is by the lithic records discovered by Dr. Paranavitana (former Commissioner of the Archaeological Department of Sri Lanka and a world famous archeologist) he has said, "An opinion exists, among some people only, that at the foot of that rock new staff appeared the beginning of the reign of a Sinhalese king in ancient times. It is, therefore possible to propagandize that the place is connected with royalty and is therefore not appropriate as an adobe for Bhikshus ". So we can understood that this name was referred to Sigiriya.
* " Aksasaila "
When king Dhatusena was ruling Maga Brahmana, his purohitha persuaded him,to build a palace on a rock and to become a ' parvataraja '.The king asked whether there is a place to build a palace Maga has answered that there is a rock,called Aksasaila . The situation which he has given according to the Paramparapustaka and the other lithic records, makes it positive to think the name Aksasaila was referred to Sigiriya.
* " Aksaparvata "
King Kassapa on his way back to Anuradhapura (A kingdom of Sri Lanka, nowadays famous as historical town) from his pursuit of Maudgalyana and his mother up to the port of Gokarnapura he came to a place a called Abhivardhamana. He saw a rock and he inquired what that rock was, he was answered" that is the Aksaparvata which your father began to build a palace". So we can believe that this is another name for Sigiriya as in the inscriptions story which is quoted above.
* " Sigiriya "
Another book about Sri Lankan history is Culavamsa. In that book we can get the exact reason why the rock fortress was named as Sigiriya. " he (king Kassapa) betook himself through fear to " Sihagiriya " which is difficult of ascent for human beings. He cleared the land round about, surround it with a wall and built a staircase in a form of a Lion Thence it took its name ".Sihagiriya means lion's rock. Sihagiriya became Sigiriya because of the change in pronunciation of the people.
A period of instability was established in Sri Lanka after the ruling of king Uapatissa (368-410 A.D) Seven Tamil rulers invaded Sri Lanka and became the rulers of it.
The Tamil rule did not last for more than 26 years (433-459A.D). The main reason for that was that some Sinhala princesses who were taking various attempts to divest these invaders. A leading one in these attempts was a prince called Dhatusena. The prince Dhatusena had an uncle who was a Buddhist monk, namely Mahanama. This monk has ordered Dhatusena to become a Buddhist monk at Mahavihara because he knew the exceptional leadership and the abilities of Dhatusena. After spending some time as a Buddhist monk, Dhatusena went to give a battle to the Tamil invaders. Thoughts of the his uncle's came through when Dhatusena defeated the Tamil invaders.
Dhatusena became the king of Sri Lanka in the year of 459 A.D. He consolidated his political power and started to work for the welfare of the people as well as specially to the welfare of Buddhism.He is credited with the construction of the world famous and miracle Buddha statue at Aukana. He has done a tremendous work for the welfare of the Mahaviharaya which was a leading vihara in the good old days. King Dhatusena has many achievements for developing the irrigation system of Sri Lanka when he was ruling. The history says that he has made 18 tanks for the welfare of the Sri Lankan agricultural society. Kalawewa and Balaluwewa which were built by king Dhatusena cover an area of 6380 acres and irrigates 7000 acres. " Jayaganga " which carries a constant flow of water from the Kalawewa to the Tissawewa is symbol of great skills,which king Dhatusena had in constructing.The angel of the land is 0.64 cm per a mile in Jayagana. King Dhatusena was the father of three children, two sons and a daughter.
Moggallana, one said to be by a mother of equal birth and the other by a mother of unequal birth, Kassapa. His beloved daughter was married to his sister's son Migara,who was the "Sanpathi"(Commander-in-Chief). King Dhatusena ordered to kill his sister who was the mother of Migara after when he found that Migara has punished her daughter several Times The evil days came to King Dhatusena to be confronted with evil days and to meet with a tragic end which was to be brought by the members of his own family as the superstitions have told. The family members were Kassapa and Migara. He was taken out stripped naked and put inside the niche of a wall and plastered over.
A great king who did a marvelous service for the welfare of the society died in a tragic way.
People visited Sigiriya even after king Kassapa died because of the greatness of the structure. While they were visiting they spent time to write a verse or two about the beauty and the greatness of Sigiriya. The place, which they used to write, was called the ' kadapathpawura ' which means the mirror wall. It got its name because it was shining like a mirror. which shows the great skills of the Sri Lankan architects. The great Sri Lankan archaeologist Mr. Paranawithana read the graffiti , which are written from the early Sinhala. Even today you can see the graffiti on the mirror wall. It is very hard to understand what they have written even to a Sri Lankan though there are written from Sinhala. Here is a famous graffiti, which Mr. Paranawithana has read and explained.
BUDHALME AMI
SIGIRI BALUMI
SIYALU DENA GEE LIYUHEIN
MA GEE NOLIYUVEMY
Meaning :-
I came from Budhalme and I am here at Sigiriya. Every one wrote songs , so I didn't write a song. (Though the writer has written a song)
Sigiriya became a miraculous place because a palace was built on the summit of the rock, which is 1193 feet above the sea level of Sri Lanka.
The summit of the Sigiriya rock covers nearly 3 arches.The unevenness of the landscape on the summit has not been a problem for the great skillful architects of yester years. They have built 12 terraces to suit this unevenness. All the terraces were built by lime stone, which was carried by people right up to the top of Sigiriya, which is a difficult task even today.
At present we can see the foundation of unbelievable palace which made Sigiriya a world famous archaeological historic site, It is 67 feet long and 37 feet broad and built of brick. There is a reservoir for water, cisterns both rock cut and built of brick, pleasure gardens etc,which are comparable to those made by modern technological inputs. There has been a wall built around the entire area of the summit and appears as an upward continuation of the sides of the rock. Remains of a Dagaba still lie closer to the Royal palace. It is not sure whether it was built by king Kassapa or by the Buddhist monks who were living there before king Kassapa went there. A 90 feet long and 68 feet wide Pond is located at the southern end of the summit,which was used as a source of water for domestic as well as for other purposes too. The cistern is near the pond and it is 70 feet long and 18 feet broad. This is one of the evidence that we can see today to prove the technical skills of the Sri Lankan architects.
A Throne cut on the bare rock appears at the center of the summit. This is a beautifully molded Throne which faces east ,which is a good direction according to the mythical believes of the people. There has been a canopy too.
By exploring the summit we can understand that the Sri Lankan architects had the skills to create fabulous, artistic and long lasting safe heaven for king Kassapa who fled his birth place seeking safety after killing his father King Dhatusena (459 - 477 A.D)
King Dhatusena became the ruler of Sri Lanka in year of 459 A.D. He was the father of two sons One said to be by a mother of equal birth, Moggallana, and the other by a mother of unequal birth, Kassapa.His daughter was married to Migara who was the Commander-in-chief. Kassapa was sure that he was not the heir to the thrown.So he was having hopes in his mind to become the king some how.
His confidence grew when Migara joined him to become the king of Sri Lanka. Migara became angry with King Dhatusena because the king odered to kill Migara's mother because Migara punished his wife who was king Dhatusena's daughter. Some how Kassapa imprisoned king Dhatusena and in a few days he was put inside the niche of a wall and plastered over.
Kassapa made a very big mistake. After killing his father he was afraid thinking that his brother Moggallana will kill him. So he thought to build his palace in a very safe place. The Great leadership comes to act in building his palace.
He choused Sigiriya, which is a very safe place. He ordered his servants to continue building the palace on the top of the summit,which his father has started. He observed the surroundings and changed the early structure in to a small structure. He built a whole complex. Pleasure gardens, places for meetings,pools,and Buddhist structures etc etc at Sigiriya.A good example for his greatness is the drainage system, which Sigiriya has. Even today we can see water coming through sprinklers in rainy days, though they were built 1500 years ago. It is no doubt king Kassapa regretted very much the foul deed he had done by killing his father, King Dhatusena. The reason for that is the service he has done to the welfare of Buddhism.Which he might have thought the best way to forgive the foul deed. He has restored Issarasamanarama vihara. He built a viharaya at Niyyanti garden. He was credited for giving a delicious meal to the monks. He even observed the Uposatha festival and also Appamanna precepts.
Moggallana returned back to Sri Lanka in the 18th year after Kassapa has become the king. King Kassapa set out with his army to give a battle to Moggallana. A murderous encounter took place. The reason that king Kassapa was defeated as the historical books show is, he had to avoid a pool of water and he turned his royal elephant in another direction at which the forces of his thought the king has given up the fight. The army got surrendered and king Kassapa became helpless and cut his throat with his own dagger.
The great king died in a tragic way some times it happened because he killed his father.
