(An excerpt from the paper titled 'Sigiriya: Aesthetics and State Power' presented at the MAHS Conference 2013 held at Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA - March 21-23)
The great historical chronicle of Sri Lanka, the Mahavamsa, depicts Kashyapa primarily as a patricide king who killed his father, King Datusena, in an inhuman manner and usurped the throne from Kashyapa’s half-brother and the rightful heir, Moggallana/Mugalan. In keeping with this projected identity, the Mahavamsa conceptualizes Kashyapa’s choice of Sigiriya as the location for his abode and the country’s new capital as one driven primarily by the need for a militarily strategic location to be able to face a possible retaliation from Moggallana who had at that time been in exile in South India. Senarat Paranavitana, Sri Lanka’s most renowned historian and archaeologist, is however of a different view. Basing himself on a set of less known historical sources, Paranavitana introduces Kashyapa in a positive light.[1] He claims the Sigiriya rock fortress to be the ultimate result of Kashyapa’s intention to elevate himself to a divine and imperial position by projecting himself as Kubera/Kuvera (the lord of wealth) of Alaka.[2] According to these less known sources, this projection of himself as Kuvera had been a key part of a broader plan aimed at attracting foreign merchants to the island and getting them to accept a credit note issued in the form of a gold coin whose value had been certified and regulated by the king of the island.[3]
Given his intentions, Kashyapa’s choice of Sigiriya as the location for his royal abode points to his assumption that the best way to convince the people of his assumed divine status was to associate himself with the celestial space by literally positioning himself in that space. The abrupt elevation that the rock introduces to the landscape dominated by the surrounding plain and the lack of easy access to the top of the rock could be seen as two key natural conditions that would have enabled Kashyapa to project himself as a celestial being. The Sanskrit and Sinhala terms ‘Akaṣaśaila’[4] and ‘Akaṣaparvata’[5] by which this rock had been known before it acquired the name Sigiriya during or after Kashyapa’s time show that the idea of the ‘sky’ had been a defining concept of the rock. A close look at Kashyapa’s Sigiriya project would indicate that much of the artistic and architectural work at Sigiriya had focused on enhancing and highlighting the pre-existing associations of the rock with the celestial realm. The continuous stretch of white plaster covering the entire western face of the rock[6] (and presumably all the sides of the rock), evidenced by the patches of plaster found on the western face today, could be seen as an important artistic feature used by the builders in this connection. With the palace on the top of the rock, the white plaster covering the rock would have given the impression of a palace suspended in the air or located on a cloud, thereby elevating the occupant of the palace to divinity.
The frescoes that appear on the western face of the Sigiriya rock more than 100 metres above ground level constitute one of the key artistic features that promote the concept of Kuvera or ‘god-king.’ According to Paranavitana, “With regard to their location as well as their subject, the Sigiri paintings belong to a class by themselves, and are not paralleled by any other pictorial remains in India or Ceylon [Sri Lanka], either earlier or later in date.”[7] The twenty-two frescoes that had survived fourteen hundred years of rough weather until they began to be formally preserved in the twentieth century feature female figures cut off by clouds a little below the waist. While some figures are of golden complexion, the others are dark-hued. The golden-coloured ones are nude above the waist while their dusky companions wear a strip of cloth across their breasts. They wear a profusion of jewellery and have elaborate coiffures. The fair damsels hold flowers in their hands or scatter them about, while their dark companions hold trays of flowers and, in one instance, an unidentified object.[8] Based on his research, Bandaranayake writes, “The painted band seems to have extended to the north-eastern corner of the rock, covering thereby an area nearly 140 metres long and, at its widest, about 40 metres high.”[9] Bandaranayake quotes John Still where he observed, “The whole face of the hill appears to have been a gigantic picture gallery ... the largest picture in the world perhaps.”[10]
According to Coomaraswamy, the frescoes depict celestial women called apsaras who are the female spirits of the clouds and waters. [11] Paranavitana is of the view that the paintings depict Meghalata (Cloud Damsels) and Vijjukumari (Lightning Princesses).[12] Both Coomaraswamy and Paranavitana’s readings of the frescoes indicate how these frescoes fit into Kashyapa’s broader plan of projecting Sigiriya as Alaka. The frescoes contribute to the broader project on two levels. On one level, the images of the female celestial beings appearing on the sides of the cloud-looking rock would have immediately elevated the occupant of the palace located above them to the level of God in the eyes of an onlooker. On another level, given the important place that water occupied in the island’s culture primarily defined by the advanced hydraulic civilization at the time, the association of the spirits of clouds and water with Kashyapa would have reinforced Kashyapa’s perceived divine status. Considering that the literal meaning of the Sanskrit term kuvera is the one who gives courage to the earth[13] and that the best form of courage that anyone could give to the earth in a hydraulic civilization is water, the intended projection of the king as someone associated with water and capable of controlling the rain would have enhanced his authority in a major way. The parallels that existed during ancient times between the flowing down of water from the sky and the ejaculation of semen by the male when cohabiting with a female,[14] which this association highlighted, would have emphasized Kashyapa’s position as the greatest patriarch of the time.
[1] See Senarat Paranavitana, The Story of Sigiri (Pannipitiya: Stamford Lake Pvt Ltd, 1972).
[2] Senarat Paranavitana, “The Significance of the Paintings of Sigiri,” Artibus Asiae 24, no. 3/4 (1961).
[3] Paranavitana, The Story of Sigiri, 57-75.
[4] Ibid., 25.
[5] Ibid., 52.
[6] Paranavitana, “The Significance of the Paintings of Sigiri,” 382.
[7] Ibid., 382.
[8] Ibid., 382.
[9] Bandaranayake, 116.
[10] Ibid., 116.
[11] Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, History of Indian and Indonesian Art, (New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1972), 163
[12] Senarat Paranavitana, “The Subject of Sigiri Paintings,” A Volume of Oriental Studies Presented to Jean Philippe Vogel, C.I.E., on the Occasion of the Fifth Anniversary of his Doctorate (Leiden, 1947, 264-269)
[13] Paranavitana, The Story of Sigiri, 22.
[14] Ibid., 60.
The great historical chronicle of Sri Lanka, the Mahavamsa, depicts Kashyapa primarily as a patricide king who killed his father, King Datusena, in an inhuman manner and usurped the throne from Kashyapa’s half-brother and the rightful heir, Moggallana/Mugalan. In keeping with this projected identity, the Mahavamsa conceptualizes Kashyapa’s choice of Sigiriya as the location for his abode and the country’s new capital as one driven primarily by the need for a militarily strategic location to be able to face a possible retaliation from Moggallana who had at that time been in exile in South India. Senarat Paranavitana, Sri Lanka’s most renowned historian and archaeologist, is however of a different view. Basing himself on a set of less known historical sources, Paranavitana introduces Kashyapa in a positive light.[1] He claims the Sigiriya rock fortress to be the ultimate result of Kashyapa’s intention to elevate himself to a divine and imperial position by projecting himself as Kubera/Kuvera (the lord of wealth) of Alaka.[2] According to these less known sources, this projection of himself as Kuvera had been a key part of a broader plan aimed at attracting foreign merchants to the island and getting them to accept a credit note issued in the form of a gold coin whose value had been certified and regulated by the king of the island.[3]
Given his intentions, Kashyapa’s choice of Sigiriya as the location for his royal abode points to his assumption that the best way to convince the people of his assumed divine status was to associate himself with the celestial space by literally positioning himself in that space. The abrupt elevation that the rock introduces to the landscape dominated by the surrounding plain and the lack of easy access to the top of the rock could be seen as two key natural conditions that would have enabled Kashyapa to project himself as a celestial being. The Sanskrit and Sinhala terms ‘Akaṣaśaila’[4] and ‘Akaṣaparvata’[5] by which this rock had been known before it acquired the name Sigiriya during or after Kashyapa’s time show that the idea of the ‘sky’ had been a defining concept of the rock. A close look at Kashyapa’s Sigiriya project would indicate that much of the artistic and architectural work at Sigiriya had focused on enhancing and highlighting the pre-existing associations of the rock with the celestial realm. The continuous stretch of white plaster covering the entire western face of the rock[6] (and presumably all the sides of the rock), evidenced by the patches of plaster found on the western face today, could be seen as an important artistic feature used by the builders in this connection. With the palace on the top of the rock, the white plaster covering the rock would have given the impression of a palace suspended in the air or located on a cloud, thereby elevating the occupant of the palace to divinity.
The frescoes that appear on the western face of the Sigiriya rock more than 100 metres above ground level constitute one of the key artistic features that promote the concept of Kuvera or ‘god-king.’ According to Paranavitana, “With regard to their location as well as their subject, the Sigiri paintings belong to a class by themselves, and are not paralleled by any other pictorial remains in India or Ceylon [Sri Lanka], either earlier or later in date.”[7] The twenty-two frescoes that had survived fourteen hundred years of rough weather until they began to be formally preserved in the twentieth century feature female figures cut off by clouds a little below the waist. While some figures are of golden complexion, the others are dark-hued. The golden-coloured ones are nude above the waist while their dusky companions wear a strip of cloth across their breasts. They wear a profusion of jewellery and have elaborate coiffures. The fair damsels hold flowers in their hands or scatter them about, while their dark companions hold trays of flowers and, in one instance, an unidentified object.[8] Based on his research, Bandaranayake writes, “The painted band seems to have extended to the north-eastern corner of the rock, covering thereby an area nearly 140 metres long and, at its widest, about 40 metres high.”[9] Bandaranayake quotes John Still where he observed, “The whole face of the hill appears to have been a gigantic picture gallery ... the largest picture in the world perhaps.”[10]
According to Coomaraswamy, the frescoes depict celestial women called apsaras who are the female spirits of the clouds and waters. [11] Paranavitana is of the view that the paintings depict Meghalata (Cloud Damsels) and Vijjukumari (Lightning Princesses).[12] Both Coomaraswamy and Paranavitana’s readings of the frescoes indicate how these frescoes fit into Kashyapa’s broader plan of projecting Sigiriya as Alaka. The frescoes contribute to the broader project on two levels. On one level, the images of the female celestial beings appearing on the sides of the cloud-looking rock would have immediately elevated the occupant of the palace located above them to the level of God in the eyes of an onlooker. On another level, given the important place that water occupied in the island’s culture primarily defined by the advanced hydraulic civilization at the time, the association of the spirits of clouds and water with Kashyapa would have reinforced Kashyapa’s perceived divine status. Considering that the literal meaning of the Sanskrit term kuvera is the one who gives courage to the earth[13] and that the best form of courage that anyone could give to the earth in a hydraulic civilization is water, the intended projection of the king as someone associated with water and capable of controlling the rain would have enhanced his authority in a major way. The parallels that existed during ancient times between the flowing down of water from the sky and the ejaculation of semen by the male when cohabiting with a female,[14] which this association highlighted, would have emphasized Kashyapa’s position as the greatest patriarch of the time.
[1] See Senarat Paranavitana, The Story of Sigiri (Pannipitiya: Stamford Lake Pvt Ltd, 1972).
[2] Senarat Paranavitana, “The Significance of the Paintings of Sigiri,” Artibus Asiae 24, no. 3/4 (1961).
[3] Paranavitana, The Story of Sigiri, 57-75.
[4] Ibid., 25.
[5] Ibid., 52.
[6] Paranavitana, “The Significance of the Paintings of Sigiri,” 382.
[7] Ibid., 382.
[8] Ibid., 382.
[9] Bandaranayake, 116.
[10] Ibid., 116.
[11] Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, History of Indian and Indonesian Art, (New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1972), 163
[12] Senarat Paranavitana, “The Subject of Sigiri Paintings,” A Volume of Oriental Studies Presented to Jean Philippe Vogel, C.I.E., on the Occasion of the Fifth Anniversary of his Doctorate (Leiden, 1947, 264-269)
[13] Paranavitana, The Story of Sigiri, 22.
[14] Ibid., 60.