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Places to visit in 2014 Sigiriya, Sri Lanka
Places to visit in 2014 Sigiriya, Sri Lanka
A giant, millstone-like rock with sheer walls, standing in the middle of an emerald sea of tropical jungle. A beautiful place, but also a parable - on the current topic of the change of power.
In the fifth century, the son of the king and concubine Kasyapa rebelled against his father and walled him alive in the wall. The rebel became king, but was terribly afraid of the rightful heir, who fled to India and gathered an army there to regain the throne. Therefore, Kasyapa left the capital and settled in a giant rock with sheer walls standing in the middle of the jungle, which he turned into an impregnable fortress.
But he wanted not only to hide, but also to live beautifully. Therefore, a luxurious garden was laid out under the rock, where hundreds of concubines lived, and the rock itself turned into, probably, the largest fresco in the world: almost its entire surface was covered with images of beautiful women - apparently, those same concubines. To date, only a small part of them has survived - mainly in the tunnel through which visitors rise to the upper platform.
A couple of decades passed and what Kasyapa feared most of all happened: the rightful heir returned with a huge army. The castle-rock made it possible to survive a very long siege, but Kasyapa's nerves could not stand it, and he, together with his army, moved towards them. On his war elephant, he tried to take a short route to the vanguard, but the army mistook this maneuver for an escape, and fled itself. The elephant got stuck in the swamp, and the king plunged his sword into himself. The bewildered rival occupied the castle without a fight, but did not live there.
By the end of the first millennium, Sigiriya was abandoned and forgotten. The castle was found by the British military in 1831.
Leonid Ragozin
for bbcrussian.com
Call tel. 068-552-29-29
Send wishes to info.travelself @gmail.com
In the fifth century, the son of the king and concubine Kasyapa rebelled against his father and walled him alive in the wall. The rebel became king, but was terribly afraid of the rightful heir, who fled to India and gathered an army there to regain the throne. Therefore, Kasyapa left the capital and settled in a giant rock with sheer walls standing in the middle of the jungle, which he turned into an impregnable fortress.But he wanted not only to hide, but also to live beautifully. Therefore, a luxurious garden was laid out under the rock, where hundreds of concubines lived, and the rock itself turned into, probably, the largest fresco in the world: almost its entire surface was covered with images of beautiful women - apparently, those same concubines. To date, only a small part of them has survived - mainly in the tunnel through which visitors rise to the upper platform.
A couple of decades passed and what Kasyapa feared most of all happened: the rightful heir returned with a huge army. The castle-rock made it possible to survive a very long siege, but Kasyapa's nerves could not stand it, and he, together with his army, moved towards them. On his war elephant, he tried to take a short route to the vanguard, but the army mistook this maneuver for an escape, and fled itself. The elephant got stuck in the swamp, and the king plunged his sword into himself. The bewildered rival occupied the castle without a fight, but did not live there.
By the end of the first millennium, Sigiriya was abandoned and forgotten. The castle was found by the British military in 1831.
Leonid Ragozin
for bbcrussian.com
Call tel. 068-552-29-29
Send wishes to info.travelself @gmail.com
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