Soliloquy

This post is dedicated to the town of Sigiriya, which was also one of the ancient capitals of Sri Lanka.

The eponymous fort has stood out in history for being that of the king Kasyapa, who murdered his father Dhatusena to usurp the throne from the rightful heir, his brother Moggallana.

The latter escaped to south India, gathered his troops and returned to Sigiriya to defeat Kasyapa, who chose to kill himself than undergo the humiliation of being captured by Moggallana.

The fort, situated on top of the Sigiri rock, lies in ruins but some features remain intact.

Misguided or not, several local guides often refer to the fort as having been that of the Asura king Ravana from the Indian epic Ramayana.

As an aside, my visit to Sigiriya was made pleasant by the friends I made at the Treehouse hostel here, which included Jackson Price, Ella Gregory, Abby Flowers, Ben Daniell and Shania Harness from England and Raphael Nuding from Germany.

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