Archaeology Magazine - July/August 1987 - 38

cent formal and informal elements that will be
repeated often throughout the garden complex.
There were rectangular extensions north and
south of Garden One, arranged symmetrically about
their common north-south axis. A small pavilion in
a rectangular reflecting pool stood in each of the
four quadrants. Scattered about were other pools
and fountains as well as at least one deep cistern for
each group. The entire garden and its north and
south extensions were surrounded by a low wall with
gateways at the midpoints of each of the four sides.
From the eastern gateway of Garden One the
visitor continued up a flight of steps to Garden Two,
a long, narrow series of terraces measuring 30 by
165 meters. A pair of deep pools, set in the lower,
western end of the garden, were fed from fountains
and water channels farther up the hill since the
ground level was already too high to receive water
from the moat-fed ponds of the first garden. Along
the north and south walls of Garden Two.was a
series of small fountains, each of a different size and
shape. This delightful garden must have been filled
with large shade trees, the fragrance and colors of
tropical flowers, as well as the gentle sounds of
water splashing.
On either side of Garden Two were islands of
roughly circular shape, each surrounded by a moat
of similar configuration. Both islands were occupied
by large structures, popularly identified as summer
palaces. The locations of these islands revealed one
of the planning principles at Sigiriya. Each moat
was sited in such a way that huge outcroppings of
stone could be employed as natural bridges.
Returning to the major east-west axis and continuing up the gentle slope of Garden Two, the visitor would have encountered a large central pavilion
now preserved only in its foundations. Repeating
the same pattern established by gateways leading
into the other two gardens, this larger pavilion was
part of that major controlling axis that is so characteristic of Asian architecture. Beyond this structure
was Garden Three, 55 by 125 meters, where the
formal geometric organization of the first two gardens started to dissolve. Its asymmetrical plan was
generated by the tall boulder on the north beneath
which a stone-lined polygonal swimming pool was
dug. The boulder has a deeply cut horizontal slot
where the roof of a small bathing pavilion was set
against its west face. The south side of Garden
Three was filled with a pool surrounded by earthen
embankments, an unfinished portion of the Kasayapan program or perhaps the result of a later project.
A strong wall separated Garden Three from the
rising ground at the base of the rock. Close by were
the remains of a post-fifth century monastery with
its circular bodhighara , a small, circular precinct for
a sacred Bodhi tree, the type beneath which the
Buddha received his enlightenment. Also nearby
were the much earlier monastic caves with their
dedicatory inscriptions from the pre-Kasayapan
phase. This area was filled with scattered boulders
of enormous size through which a path or paths led
upward from one terrace to another and, in at least
two areas, through artificial grottoes formed by
boulders leaning together. Each terrace was sup38

Archaeology

ported by brick retaining walls and connected by
flights of limestone steps. These terraces were quiet,
shaded areas often provided with stone-cut thrones
(asana) for the king and his party. One of the boulders, the so-called Audience Hall, was carved flat on
top with a monumental five-meter- wide asana. A
series of cuttings in its floor clearly marked where
wooden posts were inserted to carry a cloth canopy
for protection from the intense tropical sun or rain.
Practically every large boulder exhibited some
type of construction. Many of the caves or overhangs
beneath these stones were furnished with shelters,
thrones and brightly painted ceilings. Above, a series
of stepped cuttings in the stone provided a means of
keying brick platforms into the boulders or, alternatively, rows of individual postholes were filled by
supports for timber framing. In either case either a
brick or timber structure was provided so that pavilions could be built upon practically every boulder.
Although the Boulder Gardens appear to be a
naturalistic landscape when compared to the Water
Gardens below, such a description would be incorrect. A comparison with better known European
traditions is instructive. On the one hand, the geometric formality of French gardens is quite similar to
the Water Gardens along the east-west axis, while
the more naturalistic English tradition is similar to
the Boulder Gardens above. But it would be a mistake to assume that either English gardens or the
Boulder Gardens at Sigiriya- actually much more
similar to the gardens of China and Japan- were a
truly natural landscape; in their own right they are
as artificial as the geometric patterns of the formal
gardens.
An additional level of gardens, very poorly preserved, was set on concentric terraces above the
Boulder Gardens and at the base of the vertical wall
of the rock. From this level several massive flights
of brick and limestone staircases led to the so-called
gallery level that had been described by Forbes more
than 150 years ago. Reconstructed by the archaeological service after Bell's excavations, a visit to
the gallery level is now a relatively simple climb.
The gallery is a passage beneath the overhanging rock of the west face and behind the so-called
Mirror Wall. This long, free-standing wall is the
best preserved portion of Kasayapa's building program but of interest primarily because of the hundreds of graffiti preserved on its eastern face. These
inscriptions, primarily from the eighth to the tenth
centuries, represented the spontaneous reaction of
those who traveled here in order to see the famous
painted maidens preserved on the west face of the
rock. Short verses praised the ladies for their beauty
and mentioned the hundreds still to be seen. Only
22 maidens remain in an overhang some 45 feet above
the gallery floor but they have already taken their
place in the history of South Asian art as the earliest and some of the finest paintings either in Sri
Lanka or on the Indian subcontinent. Identified
variously as the ladies of Kasayapa's court or celestial maidens and their attendants, the style of painting is closest to that of the contemporary caves of
A janta in south-central India.
But what of the several hundred ladies from

Archaeology Magazine - July/August 1987

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - July/August 1987