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SIGIRI

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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 66 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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SIGIRI , the See also:

Lion's See also:

Rock, the ruin of a remarkable stronghold 7° 59' N., and 81° E., 14 M. N.E. of Dambulla, and about 17 M. nearly due W. of Pulasti-pura, the now ruined See also:

ancient See also:

capital of See also:

CEYLON

Ceylon. There a solitary See also:

PILLAR (0. Fr. piler, Mod. pilier, Late Lat. pilare, from pila, column)

pillar of See also:

GRANITE (adapted from the Ital. granite, grained; Lat. granum, grain)

granite rock rises to a See also:

GREAT

great height out of the See also:

PLAIN (O. Fr. plain, from Lat. plenum)

plain, and the See also:

TOP (cf. Dan. top, Ger. Topf, also meaning pot)

top actually overhangs the sides. On the See also:

SUMMIT

summit of this See also:

PENCIL (Lat. penicillus, brush, literally little tail)

pencil of rock there are five or six acres of ground; and on them, See also:

ill A.D. 477, Kasyapa the See also:

PARRICIDE (probably for Lat. patricidia, from pater, father, and caedere, to slay); strictly the murder of a parent; the term however has been extended to include the murder of any relative or of an ascendant by a descendant. The first Roman law against p

Parricide built his See also:

PALACE (Lat. Palatium, the name given by Augustus to his residence on the Palatine Hill)

palace, and thought to find an inaccessible See also:

REFUGE

refuge from his enemies. His See also:

FATHER

father Dhatu Sena, a See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country See also:

PRIEST (Ger. Priester, Fr. pretre)

priest, had, after many years of See also:

FOREIGN

foreign oppression, roused his countrymen, in 459, to ; ebellion, led them to victory, driven out the Tamil oppressors, and entered on his reign as a See also:

NATIONAL

national See also:

hero. He was as successful in the arts of See also:

peace as he had been in those of See also:

war; and carried to completion, among other See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good See also:

WORKS

works, an ambitious See also:

IRRIGATION (Lat. in, and rigare, to water or wet)

irrigation See also:

SCHEME (Lat. schema, Gr. oxfjya, figure, form, from the root axe, seen in exeiv, to have, hold, to be of such shape, form, &c.)

scheme—probably the greatest feat of See also:

ENGINEERING

engineering that had then been accomplished anywhere in the See also:

WORLD

world. This was the celebrated Kala Wewa, or See also:

Black See also:

RESERVOIR

Reservoir, more than 5o m. in circumference, which gave See also:

WEALTH

wealth to the whole country for two days' See also:

JOURNEY (through O. Fr. jornee or journee, mod. Fr. journee, from med. Lat. diurnata, Lat. diurnus, of or belonging to dies, day)

journey See also:

north of the capital, Anuradha-pura, and provided that See also:

CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city also with a See also:

CONSTANT, BENJAMIN (1845-1902)

constant See also:

SUPPLY (through Fr. from Lat. supplere, to fill up)

supply of See also:

WATER

water. Popular with the See also:

PEOPLE

people, the See also:

king could not See also:

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

control his own See also:

FAMILY

family; and as the outcome of a palace intrigue in 477 his son Kasyapa had declared himself king, and taken his father prisoner. Threatened with See also:

DEATH

death on his refusing to say where his treasure See also:

lay hid, the old king told them to take him to the tank. They took him there, and while bathing in the water he let some of it drop through his fingers, and said, " This is my treasure; this, and the love of my people." Then Kasyapa had his father built up alive into a See also:

wall. Meanwhile Kasyapa's See also:

BROTHER

brother had escaped to See also:

India and was plotting a See also:

COUNTER

counter revolution.

It was then that the parricide prepared his See also:

defence. He utilized his father's See also:

ENGINEERS, MILITARY

engineers in the construction of a path or See also:

GALLERY (through Ital. galleria, from Med. Lat. galeria, of which the origin is unknown)

gallery winding up See also:

ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round the Sigiri rock. Most of it was made, by bursting the rock by means of wooden wedges, through the solid granite, and its outside See also:

PARAPET (Ital. parapetto, Fr. parapet, from para, imperative of Ital. porare, to cover, defend, and petto, breast, Lat. pectus; the German word is Brustwehr)

parapet was supported by walls of See also:

BRICK (derived according to some etymologists from the Teutonic bricke, a disk or plate; but more authoritatively, through the French brique, originally a " broken piece," applied especially to bread, and so to clay, from the Teutonic brikan, to break)

brick resting on ledges far below. It is a marvellous piece of See also:

WORK

work. Abandoned since 495—for Kasyapa was eventually slain during a See also:

BATTLE

battle fought in the plain beneath—it has, on the whole, well withstood the fury of tropical storms, and is now used again to gain See also:

ACCESS (Lat. accessus)

access to the top. When rediscovered by See also:

Major See also:

Forbes in 1835 the portions of the gallery where it had been exposed for so many centuries to the See also:

south-See also:

west See also:

monsoon, had been carried away. These gaps have lately been repaired, or made passable with the help of See also:

IRON [symbol Fe, atomic weight 55.85 (0=16)]

iron stanchions; the remains cf the buildings at the top and at the See also:

FOOT

foot of the See also:

mountain have been excavated; and the entrance to the gallery, between the outstretched paws of a gigantic lion, has been laid See also:

BARE

bare. The See also:

FRESCO (Ital. for cool, " fresh ")

fresco paintings in the galleries are perhaps the most interesting of the extant remains. They are older than any others found in India, and have been carefully copied, and, as far as possible, preserved. See Major Forbes, Eleven Years in Ceylon (See also:

LONDON

London, 1841); I-I. C. P.

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