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Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit

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Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story

More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice

Sri Lanka’s Sigiriya wasn’t Ravan’s palace. Here’s the real history

Indian travellers who visit Sri Lanka and ascend the rock fortress should set aside the version of its history pushed by social media influencers.

Deep in the heart of Sri Lanka’s dry zone and its undulating plains, rises the extraordinary site of Sigiriya. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982 not only for its dramatic history, but for the ingenuity of the engineers. They built a compelling fortress surrounded by water gardens in the 5th century CE. Positioned at the centre of the country’s Cultural Triangle, the 200-metre rock fortress draws millions of visitors who scale its heights each year, yet its origins remain hard to grasp. It’s unfathomable how the fortress came into existence and then went back into oblivion until mid-1800s, when British officers pushed through the surrounding jungle and local superstitions to explore it.

Indian travellers who visit Sri Lanka and ascend the rock fortress should set aside the version of its history pushed by social media influencers. This is not the mythical palace of Ravana from the epic Ramayana, nor the garden where Sita was supposedly held captive; it is the fortress built by King Kassapa I, after a brutal and calculated struggle for succession. But to understand why a king would build something this ambitious, fortified on a geological marvel, you have to trace back its history, and the archaeology that eventually brought it back to light.

Sri Lanka’s ancient capital of Anuradhapura came under new rule around 455 CE, when King Dhatusena claimed the throne. His victory marked the founding of the Moriya Dynasty. The greatest achievement of his reign was the construction of the irrigation system, which significantly improved agricultural activities in the area.

But he was less admired on the personal front. Kassapa, the eldest of his three children, was born to a concubine and wanted the throne for himself. But his younger brother Moggallana, who was born to the queen consort, was the legitimate........

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