Sri Lanka is a South Asian country officially known as Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and is surrounded by the Indian Ocean. It is a small country and shares no land border with any country. This island country is amazingly beautiful and has a rich history. With so many beautiful places to visit and a lower living expense made this country a tourist attraction. Here in this country there are so many mountain to hike and beaches to explore. Polonnarua temple, Sri Pada / Adam’s Peak temple, Unawatuna sea-beach, Sigiriya fortress are famous places you can visit in Sri Lanka. Though you can visit Thailand for a great holiday in Sea-beach, Sri Lanka is comparatively lower in expense and offering you a good holiday trip too. Today I will share you a historically amazing place you can explore in Sri Lanka.
The Sigiriya fortress
Sigiriya is a located besides Dambulla city and in the central of the Sri Lanka. You can take a taxi or tuktuk (local auto rickshaw) to go Sigiriya fortress from Sigiriya city. Tuktuk is comparatively cheap for traveler and is quiet enjoyable for journey. It will give you a local vibe.
After reaching in the fortress’s gate you have to buy ticket to enter. For foreigner, ticket is 30$ and for people from SAARC country ticket price is 20$. But you have to show your passport to get the discount. Now you are ready to enter. In the entry gate there is a long pathway and there are some ancient architecture both sides of this road. Historians say that, Buddhist Monk had stayed there at least 2300 years before. Quiet a long history of this architecture. After you have passed the pathway, you will find a 180 meter granite rock. This is the famous Lion’s Rock. This is the main attraction of this place. But the fact is you have to climb 180 meter (1270 steps) staircase on a solid rock. You can consider this as a rock hiking. But trust me, all your effort will worth it when you finally reach at the top of that rock. At the beginning of the staircase you will find two lion’s paw like sculpture in two sides of the stair. The view from the top of that rock will feel like you are watching the Sri Lanka in bird’s eye. A giant rock in the middle of an ever green jungle.
At this point let me tell you some history of this place
This place was built by the fifth-century king Kashyapa I. Kashyapa was the ruler of the native Sinhalese dynasty, the Moriya. This city was the capital of his kingdom till he was defeated in A.D. 495 by his stepbrother Moggallana I. Historians tell that, king Kashyapa’s mother was a non-royal wife of King Dhatusena. And this is the reason he was not chosen as a king. But in 477 A.D. he killed his father and take the kingdom in on his own hand. His stepbrother Moggallana then escaped to India. But after 18 years, Moggallana came back and fought a battle against Kashyapa and take the kingdom of Moriya. King Moggallana then shift his capital from this place to Anuradhapura. Some say that, king Kashyapa was suicided on the battle. Some say that, he was killed by one of his concubine. But this was the end of King Kashyapa’s era.
After that this place was used by the Buddhist Monk for so long. So this place has a large history and this is quiet important to Sri Lanka. Besides it’s history, this place also has importance in Ramayana (a smriti text from ancient India). Because some of the Hindus believe that, this place was the fortress of Rama (the seventh avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu).
As a tourist you will like this place if you like ancient architecture and history. It will give you a historical movie vibe. But you should keep in mind some points.
- The local water in Sri Lanka is not safe to drink. It may not suite in your body. So it is safe to drink mineral water. But if you want to save money, keep a refillable water bottle and always fill it when you found filter water. This will save you money and will protect you to getting sick.
- The temperature in Sri Lanka is hot. You will sweat so much. So you can keep a face towel and some extra dress with you. Also try to wear lose and thin summer friendly dress. This quick dry trouser and t-shirt can be your wearing. It will help you a lot to in this weather.
- Since the weather is sweaty, try to reach in Sigiriya as early as possible. This place open at 6:30 in the morning. So try to reach early in the morning. It also help you to avoid the chaos. Besides morning temperature is much more comfortable to hike in the rock.
- If you miss the morning, don’t worry. Reach there in the afternoon. You will have a plenty time for sightseeing. Besides that, if you reach in the Sigiriya fortress in afternoon, you will have a good sunset view. This will melt your heart with pure natural beauty.
The people in Sri Lanka is so friendly. And Sri Lanka has a lot of delicious food to offer. Try some local food. You will find both veg and non-veg food here. But careful about the spices. Because they like more spicy food than European or American. But you will find low spice also. So don’t worry. Finally you can plan a good tour with your partner to Sri Lanka. But if you are a traveler from the Europe or the United States, try to plan the tour and buy air ticket in advance. You can save money by that. Moreover I can say that you will not regret about the idea of tour in Sri Lanka. Happy Travelling!!!
