The Story of Sigiriya

The Story of Sigiriya is a beautifully illustrated, easy-to-read book that presents the fascinating tale of Sigiriya, Sri Lanka. The book consists of two parts. Part 1 details the history of the site and the king who built it. Part 2 contains an extensive Site Guide with vivid and never before seen photographs of the site.

This is the story 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, 660 feet high, he builds himself a new capital. He transforms the once sinister-looking rock to appear like a massive 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 three hundred years until rediscovered by an adventurous young British army officer while on an elephant hunt.

Senani Ponnamperuma is a brilliant storyteller, who for the very first time, has brought the story of Sigiriya alive. Using a crisp narrative, he brings to light much new information and many previously overlooked facts. He sets the scene of the time over 1,500 years ago when this story unfolded, introduces us to the principal characters, and then guides us through the events leading up to the creation, abandonment, and its subsequent rediscovery by an adventurous British army officer while on an elephant hunt.