Text Box:   Text Box: WELCOME TO SIGIRIYA - THE MOUNTAIN OF LION

Text Box:            Sigiriya is an archeological site in Central Sri Lanka that contains the ruins of an ancient palace complex, built during the reign of King Kasyapa (477 – 495 AD). It is one of the seven World Heritage Sites in Sri Lanka and is one of its most popular tourist destinations. The Complex consists of the central rock, rising 200 meters above the surrounding plain, and the two rectangular precincts on the east (90 hectares) and the west (40 hectares), surrounded by two moats and three ramparts.            Visitors arrive outside the outer moats, with the rock rising above the trees in the mid distance. Paths through the complex of moats and gardens lead to the foot of the slope. Stone stairways climb the steep slope at the base of the rock, winding through the remains of the lower parts of the palace, reaching a terrace that traverses along the lower edge of the vertical face of the rock. The rock above this terrace, known as the mirror wall, was one time adorned with frescoes, some of which can still be seen, though unfortunately now much faded. At the end of the terrace beneath the highest part of the rock, the terrace opens out into a substantial courtyard.            From here the climb to the top of the rock is via a modern iron stairway that reaches the rock face through the remains of the original brick gateway, the Lion Gate, now degenerated to a massive pair of brick paws. The ruined paws are all that remain of a huge head and fore paws of a lion, whose open mouth served as the entrance to the royal palace. The route continues around, across and up the cliff face via a rather airy iron staircase, a modern replacement for the original brick stairway, that vanished along with the lion's head during the 1400 years since the palace was constructed. The stairway ends at the highest point of the rock, the upper palace falls away in gentle tiers towards the opposite end of the rock from this point. The ruins of the palace buildings rise only perhaps half a metre above the surface of the rock, but the extensive works cut into the surface of the rock have endured better.

Text Box: KAICHO VISITS SIGIRIYA                              Kaicho Hoosain Narker visited SIGIRIYA—The Stone of Lion in Sri Lanka, with the Sri Lankan practitioners of Ashihara karate in the October of  1998, enjoying its natural beauty while experiencing the proud of our ancient history and leaving a remarkable milestone of our tale of karate history.   Text Box: