Day 6
Door: Elke
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Elke
15 Oktober 2016 | Sri Lanka, Sigiriya
After an early wake-up call by telephone and pigeons, we drove to the Sigiriya Lion Rock, which is a 200 meter high boulder in the landscape turned into a fortress by an ancient king who had killed his father and exiled his brother and was scared shitless for said brother to come back for retaliation. The innermost circle of the kings court was allowed on the 1.5 hectares of quarters build on top of the rock, which did include amongst others a swimming pool! Around the rock there were gardens and systems of canals (including fountains!) which served for defense, bathing and irrigation purposes. I was by the way impressed to see throughout Sri Lanka, that various kings had constructed integrate dams and irrigation systems as far as 1200 years ago, to support the cultivation of rice and other crops.
While Europe was freeing itself from Roman rule and started building the first cathedrals, the people of Sri Lanka constructed the symmetrical gardens and an entire kingdom on a rock. What they had not managed yet was the construction of elevators and while the king used to be carried up the rock, we were all climbing it ourselves. We did however enjoy an updated system of steps and stairs and in what must have been a moment of sheer brilliance they decided at the time to build most of it on the side that remains in the shadow and receives cooling breezes of air. On our way up, we passed the rock paintings which showed that the king apparently enjoyed his fair share of silicone-breasted women in his harem and the mirror wall, which was once so polished with wax that it apparently reflected the paintings on the other side of the passage. On the top of the rock we had a great view of the surrounding land, including the gardens of which likely only half has currently been revealed and excavated. Of course we could not get a birds eye’s view of this rock, nor were we allowed to take pictures of the paintings and mirror wall, but they all do deserve some google pictures I found online!
On our way down we came at a cross point, where we needed to turn left for the ‘tourist car park – for foreigners’. I did wonder for a while whether some kind of ‘us-versus-them-thinking’ had also reach Sri Lanka, but at the end I found out the reason for this divide, as at the tourists have to pass a narrow path surrounded by little souvenir shops before they can get to the parking lot.
After a refreshing dive in the swimming pool of the hotel and some lunch, we left for Polonnaruwa, the second capital of the country, stretching a large area of temples, gardens, and swimming pools. Due to repeated invasions from India, kings kept moving south, so there are multiple ancient kingdom capitals. Also, one of Buddha’s teeth is a cherished relic of the country and every king build a temple for the tooth that was bigger and richer than the previous one (Buddhist or not, men are still men needing to proof that theirs is bigger than the other one). Interesting here was also the mix with Hindu influences in the Buddhist temples. A number of the kings married princesses from India in an effort to keep the peace. To keep the brides happy, the temples displayed features from their religion as well.
Luckily for us, it happened to be a Saturday, which is a weekend day in Sri Lanka as well, and there was a full moon. Full moon celebrations are important for Buddhist, so the temples of Polonnaruwa were also visited by large numbers of Buddhist monks and local people who all came with their families to bring offers to the temples and participate in ceremonies. It did make this visit to the temples extra special, especially during nightfall when they started lighting oil lamps and had a small parade.
The full moon comes with the anticipation of rain and that the population had already been desperately waiting for, as the wet season was overdue and the rice fields were still dry. Like the day before, the rain came again while we were in the bus on our way back to the hotel. I was wondering whether the locals were happy with the rain for their crops or whether they would be disappointed that it was raining during the festivities (apparently most people don’t have many different outfits to change into, so rain is a strong reasons to stay indoors and even a perfectly acceptable excuse to not go to work). During the full moon, alcohol is not allowed either, although it is not entirely clear what it is about alcohol that is not allowed, as I heard that it was more the selling of alcohol that was frowned upon and not so much the consumption per se. In the restaurant of the hotel however a large number of bottles with liquor and wine were displayed, but on this day they were all covered with a cloth. The minibars in the hotel rooms on the other hand had been extra stuffed the day before under the motto “if we are technically not selling it to you during the full moon, everything should be okay”, but then again Sammy asked us to also not consume it in public areas on this day.
While Europe was freeing itself from Roman rule and started building the first cathedrals, the people of Sri Lanka constructed the symmetrical gardens and an entire kingdom on a rock. What they had not managed yet was the construction of elevators and while the king used to be carried up the rock, we were all climbing it ourselves. We did however enjoy an updated system of steps and stairs and in what must have been a moment of sheer brilliance they decided at the time to build most of it on the side that remains in the shadow and receives cooling breezes of air. On our way up, we passed the rock paintings which showed that the king apparently enjoyed his fair share of silicone-breasted women in his harem and the mirror wall, which was once so polished with wax that it apparently reflected the paintings on the other side of the passage. On the top of the rock we had a great view of the surrounding land, including the gardens of which likely only half has currently been revealed and excavated. Of course we could not get a birds eye’s view of this rock, nor were we allowed to take pictures of the paintings and mirror wall, but they all do deserve some google pictures I found online!
On our way down we came at a cross point, where we needed to turn left for the ‘tourist car park – for foreigners’. I did wonder for a while whether some kind of ‘us-versus-them-thinking’ had also reach Sri Lanka, but at the end I found out the reason for this divide, as at the tourists have to pass a narrow path surrounded by little souvenir shops before they can get to the parking lot.
After a refreshing dive in the swimming pool of the hotel and some lunch, we left for Polonnaruwa, the second capital of the country, stretching a large area of temples, gardens, and swimming pools. Due to repeated invasions from India, kings kept moving south, so there are multiple ancient kingdom capitals. Also, one of Buddha’s teeth is a cherished relic of the country and every king build a temple for the tooth that was bigger and richer than the previous one (Buddhist or not, men are still men needing to proof that theirs is bigger than the other one). Interesting here was also the mix with Hindu influences in the Buddhist temples. A number of the kings married princesses from India in an effort to keep the peace. To keep the brides happy, the temples displayed features from their religion as well.
Luckily for us, it happened to be a Saturday, which is a weekend day in Sri Lanka as well, and there was a full moon. Full moon celebrations are important for Buddhist, so the temples of Polonnaruwa were also visited by large numbers of Buddhist monks and local people who all came with their families to bring offers to the temples and participate in ceremonies. It did make this visit to the temples extra special, especially during nightfall when they started lighting oil lamps and had a small parade.
The full moon comes with the anticipation of rain and that the population had already been desperately waiting for, as the wet season was overdue and the rice fields were still dry. Like the day before, the rain came again while we were in the bus on our way back to the hotel. I was wondering whether the locals were happy with the rain for their crops or whether they would be disappointed that it was raining during the festivities (apparently most people don’t have many different outfits to change into, so rain is a strong reasons to stay indoors and even a perfectly acceptable excuse to not go to work). During the full moon, alcohol is not allowed either, although it is not entirely clear what it is about alcohol that is not allowed, as I heard that it was more the selling of alcohol that was frowned upon and not so much the consumption per se. In the restaurant of the hotel however a large number of bottles with liquor and wine were displayed, but on this day they were all covered with a cloth. The minibars in the hotel rooms on the other hand had been extra stuffed the day before under the motto “if we are technically not selling it to you during the full moon, everything should be okay”, but then again Sammy asked us to also not consume it in public areas on this day.
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
