Sigiriya

You may recall the story in early August about wasps taking on the role as the 21st century protectors of the rock fortress Sigiriya in Sri Lanka. They managed to hopitalize about a dozen tourists and foced the closure of the fortress for a time.

Well, I can bring you some first-hand news about the fortress and the wasps -- if that's what they are. I'm just back from Sri Lanka and thank goodness Sigiriya is again open (picture below). And what a place it is. It's sometimes touted as the eighth wonder of the world -- and I don't think that is any exaggeration. Apart from the magnificence of the natural rock outcrop (a volcanic plug, I suspect), the man-made adaptations are the most impressive I have ever seen.

But first to the wasps -- or wild bees as Sri Lankans call them. I don't know what they are as I never actually saw any, but their nests, built on the cliff-face of the rock look like they could be built by Apis cerana (picture below).

As I began the ascent of the rock, at the ticket counter, I noticed a pile of beesuits and part way of the ascent, there were two bee / wasp shelters (picture below).

And for those of you who want to know why Sigiriya even sans wasps is so special:

The fortress stands 180 metres above the surrounding plains and in the fifth century, as now, was surrounded by jungle. The approach to the rock is across a huge moat and then through the remains of fantastic water gardens, then boulder gardens and then terrace gardens -- all of it built with huge attention to detail and unbelievable imagination. Experts think it was a playboy's paradise and possibly an attempt to emulate the mythical Alakamanda, the Himalayan mountain paradise god of riches, Kevera.

But that's only the start.

As you begin the ascent up the sheer face along tortuous steps, you pass a handful of the remaining beautiful paintings which once covered a huge area of the rock face. Then, because the king was afraid of heights (!), part of the ascent is behind the Mirror Wall, once glazed with honey, eggs and lime to give a mirror-like sheen -- even today.

Then comes the Lion's Platform (where the wasp refuges are) and the final ascent through the lion's paws. Once the whole of the lion's front existed (only the paws remain) and would have been a truly awesome sight. Finally, you reach the top and the king's palace. It even has what looks like a large swimming pool to collect the monsoon rains. To enter that domain must have been a terrifying and beautiful experience.

And to top it all, the reason for its construction seems to reveal a brilliant, paranoid, playboy tyrant. King Kassapa was born to a non-royal consort and knew that his half-brother, Moggallana would succeed him. So Kassapa seized the throne, and imprisoned and later killed his father for not revealing the whereabouts of his treasure. (Some say he had him plastered alive into a wall.) Moggallana fled to India, but Kassapa knew he would return -- and so he built Sigiriya as his defence.

Eighteen years later, Moggallana did return with his army. Ironically Kassapa and his men left the fortress and rode out to meet him. The story goes that Kassapa's elephant turned to avoid a hidden swamp, but his army thought this was a retreat and fled. Isolated and stranded, Kassapa beheaded himself.