Lankian Erebor: the eighth wonder of the world - the lonely lion mountain-fortress Sigiriya

In the northeastern part of Sri Lankan Middle-earth amidst impassable woodlands, where human life and rupees are not worth it, there stands a lonely mountain, the underground treasures of which are protected by a giant lion, from whose sharp claws many brave souls suffered, who dreamed of regaining Sigiriya, untold wealth and title Kings Under the Mountain.

Who decided that there should be exactly 7 miracles? Why not 8 or 9? What is the lonely mountain of Sigiriya in Sri Lanka with an impregnable palace-fortress on top of, with a huge statue of a lion that frightened the guests of the courtyard and a unique irrigation system that has been functioning since the 5th century worse than other objects? Tolkien’s fantastic mythology superimposed on her awe-inspiring image and wonderfully smoothly accompanied the bloody family drama in the best traditions of Game of Thrones, the origin of Sigiriya.

As stated in Russian tales, there was a king, and he had two sons. One - the stately and wise prince of Mogallan - from the most beautiful and beloved of the wives, and the second, the bastard Kashyap (Kassap), impudent and always dissatisfied - the result of amorous adventures with a concubine. When the conversation came about the heir, the king did not toss a coin into the air, and the throne of the King of the North, which was soon being released, unsubscribed in the name of royal blood, which greatly annoyed Kashyap. He did not trade for hiring lawyers and appeals, and, forgetting respect for his elders, decided the matter sternly and manly, raising a rebellion and seizing power in his hands. The brother, barely collecting his belongings, escaped in a hurry to South India and threatened to return soon and pay back from there; while the king was in for a more sad fate.

Having visited his father in prison, Kashyap demanded that he open access to all state treasures. The king asked me to take him to a bath in a huge reservoir, the construction of which became one of the main tasks of his life. Kashyapa thought that for sure the greedy daddy could easily hide the chest of emeralds and sapphires at the bottom of the tank and, without draining the last one, you can drive the pitchfork over the water for a long time, hoping to stumble upon the treasured treasure. However, the king only passed water through his fingers and said that this was his main treasure. The enraged bastard did not stand on ceremony and, having immured his father alive, began to prepare for the return of his brother, who continued to lay claim to the throne. Not the Red Wedding, but George Martin is standing ovation anyway.

First of all, Kashyap decided to move from Anuradhapura and build himself an impregnable fortress, from where he, without being distracted from carnal pleasures, would laugh out loud at the attempts of storming his possession of Mogallana. The choice fell on the 200-meter-long extinct volcano Sigiriya south of the capital - with its steep slopes, the lonely mountain perfectly matched the idea of the future castle. Having dispersed the hermit monks, who occupied the caves of Sigiriya for several centuries, the bastard, who henceforth called himself no more than the King Under the Mountain, set about embodying his grandiose and ambitious project.

Inviting the best specialists in landscape design, the King Under the Mountain pitched at the foot of the picturesque gardens with ponds, pools, fountains and a canal system. On the slopes of the mountain, among the massive boulders, winding cobbled stairs and terraces are located - Kashyapa's guests, climbing up to the top of the palace and abundantly dropping drops of sweat, were delighted by the change in the strict and correct geometry and symmetry of the plain gardens in the wild and naturally preserved natural chaos, climbing from terraces to the terrace and tilting your head under the arching boulders.

Having a weakness for the female sex, Kashyap planned to build not just a great fortress, but a palace of pleasures and entertainment, and turned one of the caves on the slopes of Sigiriya into an art gallery. Then there were up to 500 images of half-naked girls with impressive shapes. Oh, Casanova was this King Under the Mountain! To this day, a little more than two dozen frescoes have survived. Dating from the second half of the fifth century, the only non-religious frescoes that have been preserved since ancient times are the canonical appearance of Sigiriya and one of the symbols of Sri Lanka as a whole. In the captured scenes from the palace life, the concubines mostly scatter flower petals or bring fruit on trays.

Proponents of more traditional views believe that the beautiful Sigirian girls are divine nymphs, or Apsaras, as evidenced by their image half-naked to the waist and emerging as if from a cloud. The Apsaras would hardly have posed for the court painters, so the roles of the sitters were most likely performed by the same concubines from the Kashyap harem.

It is not allowed to take pictures of the apsar, and a lone guard clearly cannot cope with the flow of people who want to break the rule. However, in almost every story about visiting Sigiriya you will definitely see at least one picture - the flashes of smartphones sparkle from everywhere, which, it seems to me, was the reason for the introduction of an imaginary ban on shooting.

A string of stairs fixed to the rock body leads us to the upper "lion's" terrace - the final stretch of the path to the King’s court Under the Mountain, the courtiers overcame, rising between two huge clawed paws and going straight into the open lion's mouth. The head collapsed over time, and no traces can be found now, and the lonely mountain was named Sigiriya - the lion's rock in honor of the awesome monument. The gates with paws, even in the early hours, are unprecedentedly popular in terms of a memory photo, so that, having woken up a second wind, we continue the way up. What else did Kashyap configure that UNESCO gave his rocky residence the sonorous title of the 8th wonder of the world?

The titles of the self-proclaimed King Under the Mountain and the King of the North were clearly not enough for the bastard, and, not knowing how else to perpetuate his deeds, Kashyap decided that his mountain palace was nothing more than the embodiment of the abode of the god of wealth Kubera. The latter, apparently, patronized the new Sinhala king, since it took an insignificant 7 years to erect the entire complex. And the King began to live and live and gain good, Under the Mountain, only a blessed life did not last long. The law of karma overtook Kashyapa in the form of his brother Mogallana who returned from South India, who secured the support of the Tamils who had attacked the island more than once.

And it would seem, sit on your throne, eat rice, drink wine and look from the heights of the battle. Stupid bravado played a cruel joke with the bastard - having gone down from his impregnable stronghold, he personally rode out at the head of the army on an elephant to meet the enemy army. As if without his imperious loud cry, the soldiers would back away or rush in all directions. And the elephant was not at all fighting: either the mouse ran, or the smell of the impending battle made the natural self-preservation instinct work out - the elephant was frightened and pulled in a completely different direction. The troops, thinking that in this way their commander makes a cunning retreat maneuver to hit the enemy from the other flank, lost ground, leaving Kashyapu alone on the battlefield unable to cope with the crazed elephant. To avoid captivity, the King Under the Mountain fell on his exposed sword, piercing himself through and through.

The Palace of Pleasure without its owner quickly fell into disrepair and was soon abandoned. Hermit monks returned to the caves of Sigiriya in search of peace, silence and peace. The Buddhist monastery existed at the foot of about nine centuries, and then also sunk into oblivion, until at the beginning of the 19th century the British stronghold surrounded by gardens discovered the mountain citadel.

From the palace buildings on the top of the mountain, only cascading terraces, the foundations of buildings and a rather large swimming pool were preserved, where the King Under the Mountain bathed with the beautiful half of his retinue. Quite often, comparisons of Sigiriya with Machu Picchu come across. I have not reached Peru yet, but with a clear conscience I am authorized to declare that the Inca city looks much more interesting and picturesque in the photographs. However, imagining how in only 7 years Kashyapa was able to create a structure so complex by the standards of that time from nothing, you are imbued with the atmosphere of this unique place. Today we climb stairs, albeit narrow, but firmly and securely fixed, and how did the bricks, mortar, and the rest of the palace utensils be raised up in the 5th century?

As for the lonely mountain, the author frankly, without blinking an eye, bluffed and in the second half of the post, having given out all possible fictional and real facts, he has every right to go down to the confessed readers. Next to a strip of dense jungle stands a natural formation with a pungent smell of local cutlets with onions and peppers called Pidurangala, touted as an alternative to Sigiriya with its predatory 30 American presidents at the entrance. Do not like crowds and popular tourist spots? Do you think that UNESCO officials share with the local administration and receive interest on a Swiss bank account for the status of the 8th wonder of the world? Would you like to pay a penny in the salary of the clean gardens and the condition of the workers' stairs? Then Pidurangala is an option for you.

Pushing the clouds apart, the sun was wading through the sky, generously spraying its heat on the slender rows of those who wished to see the ancient frescoes of busty apsars and massive stone lion paws with their own eyes, which were generously spraying their warmth towards the lion mountain, which was being pulled up after a hearty breakfast.

Congestion formed on the stairs, and then sweating and squinting from the abyss that developed underfoot, tourists crawled up groups of guides up the lion mountain along with a thermometer column. That is why it is worth putting your will into a fist, rejecting the desire to “sleep off on vacation at least” and come to the box office of Sigiriya immediately at the opening.

The day is far from in full swing, and you have already closed the main goal. The bravest and the most resourceful will catch both macaques by the tail at once - they will also climb to Pidurangala, and there will be something to boast about before the descendants. You know, you liked watching the Eiffel Tower from the tower itself or from the observation deck of the Trocadero? And the nature of Sri Lanka has prepared for trekking lovers more than one or two opportunities of varying difficulty to beat your legs and test your breathing system, so Pidurangalu can be completely missed with a busy travel schedule.

A functioning museum for the modest, compared to the price of the main ticket, 5 American presidents will tell you a brief history of Sigiriya and will give you the opportunity to photograph replicas of those same frescoes from the cave niche on the slope, where you either didn’t get to, or where the moderator didn’t make modesty frame without flash, while the guard dispersed the noisy Chinese.

Unknowing people will not notice the differences, because the first two apsaras are circulated over the network and postcards, as I showed above - the rest are in catch-up. The remake is executed, I must say, rather untidy, and the artificial aging and pollution of the wall looks very primitive. So many years have passed, and technology is not able to repeat the authentic technique of painting of the V century. However, it was likely that the museum didn’t try too hard - we were almost its only visitors, given that when buying the main ticket for entering the museum, a bribe is not required separately.

After leaving Polonnaruwa leaving conflicting feelings and impressions, the lonely lion mountain Sigiriya, even in the fickle, as Kashyapa’s preferences over the concubine for the night, conquered the weather with her uniqueness and grandeur. With the 8th wonder of the world, UNESCO clearly got excited if they didn’t give out the 9th, 10th and so on, but if they asked me the question: “Listen, but what antiquities in Sri Lanka to look at, only one thing “The best? In between surfing and sunbathing on a deck chair,” I would recommend Sigiriya without a shadow of doubt. And he would whisper after the retreating figure: "And look into Dambulla along the way, since the gracious Mihintale have not been hooked for sure."

Catching a tuk-tuk and returning to the guesthouse, where a hospitable family fed us a delicious traditional Sri Lankan dinner the day before, and where the landlady's daughter entertained us with card tricks, took our backpacks and went to a bus stop in the direction of Dambulla and Kandy.