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Sigiriya: A UNESCO World Heritage Site

Sigiriya is a ancient rock fortress in Sri Lanka built by King Kashyapa in the 5th century AD. He built his palace on top of the flat-topped rock, decorating the sides with colorful frescoes. Halfway up is the famous Lion Gate entrance through an enormous stone lion. Within the complex are the remains of the upper palace, a mid-level terrace with the Lion Gate and Mirror Wall frescoes, lower palaces, and lush water gardens surrounded by ramparts and moats for protection.

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583 views13 pages

Sigiriya: A UNESCO World Heritage Site

Sigiriya is a ancient rock fortress in Sri Lanka built by King Kashyapa in the 5th century AD. He built his palace on top of the flat-topped rock, decorating the sides with colorful frescoes. Halfway up is the famous Lion Gate entrance through an enormous stone lion. Within the complex are the remains of the upper palace, a mid-level terrace with the Lion Gate and Mirror Wall frescoes, lower palaces, and lush water gardens surrounded by ramparts and moats for protection.

Uploaded by

Tharangani
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
  • Introduction
  • Historical Background
  • Site Plan of Sigiriya
  • Frescoes of Sigiriya
  • Mirror Wall of Sigiriya
  • Water Gardens of Sigiriya
  • Important Places of Sigiriya

AMAZING SIGIRIYA

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Prepared by Tharangani Weerasinghe


CONTENT
I. Introduction
II. Historical Background
III. Site plan of Sigiriya
IV. Frescoes of Sigiriya
V. Mirror Wall of Sigiriya
VI. Water Gardens of Sigiriya
VII.Important places of Sigiriya
INTRODUCTION
 Sigiriya is a rock fortress built by king Kashyapa during 477AD-
495AD.
 He built his palace on the top of a rock.
 It is Situated in the central Matale District of Sri Lanka.
 The entrance of Sigiriya looks like a mouth of a lion.
 Sigiriya today is a UNESCO listed as a world heritage site.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
• According to the ancient Sri Lankan chronicle the Culavasama, this
site was selected by King Kashapa. (477 – 495 CE) for his new
capital. He built his palace on the top of this rock and decorated its
sides with colorful frescoes. On a small plateau about halfway up the
side of this rock he built a gateway in the form of an enormous lion.
The name of this place is derived from this structure — Sīnhāgiri, the
Lion Rock.
SITE PLAN OF SIGIRIYA
The Sigiriya site contains the ruins of an upper palace located on the flat top of the
rock, a mid-level terrace that includes the Lion Gate and the mirror wall with its
frescoes, the lower palaces located behind the lavish lower gardens, and moats and
ramparts which protected the citadel
FRESCOES OF SIGIRIYA
MIRROR WALL IN SIGIRIYA
WATER GARDENS OF SIGIRIYA
The Water Gardens are the first part of Sigirya visitors
encounter as they enter through the west gate.
Relatively well preserved, they have been compared to the
water gardens of ancient Rome and the Middle East.
Interspersed among the gardens were a number of palaces
and bathing pavilions, and the entire area featured lush
vegetation. These water gardens were designed as a pleasure
palace, an area reserved for the royal family to relax. Each
garden has its own distinctive characteristics. The Miniature
Water Garden and Water Garden 1 are primarily bathing
pools, the Fountain Garden is primarily a display of
Sigiriya's hydraulics and is intended as a display, while
Garden 3 served as the secluded Water Palace residences.

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