Sigiriya: An Incredible Example of Ancient Engineering

this video is brought to you by squarespace from websites and online stores to marketing tools and analytics squarespaces the all in one platform build beautiful online presence and run your business check out squarespace through the link below more on them in a bit [Music] anyone who's ever played king of the hill with their siblings knows just how important it is to have the high ground now one of sri lanka's most famous tourist attractions seeing over 1 500 domestic and foreign visitors every day sigiriya was actually just that originally the site of two brothers life or death game of king of the hill of course since the brothers were royalty there was bits more spectacular than your backyard dirt pile the massive column of rock justing 180 meters or 590 feet out of the metallic forest in sri lanka's central province sigiriya became the site of an elaborate city that remains one of the most impressive examples of urban planning in the ancient world so was it just a deliberately designed military fortress in the conflict between two brothers a palace for a playboy king and his many concubines or a giant canvas for ancient artists and poets the story of sigiriya is one of murder intrigue and betrayal that has survived over 15 centuries carved painted and built into the rock itself [Music] the area around sigeria has been inhabited for at least 5 000 years and there's evidence of buddhist monks using the rocky terrain and its many caves for shelter as early as the 3rd century bc in fact many caves or rock outcroppings in the area feature inscriptions denoting them as donations to various buddhist sects however the story of sigiriya fortress didn't begin until almost a millennia later when in the 5th century kashyapa the first son of king darusena decided he wanted the throne for himself barucena was an important figure in sri lankan history uniting the country under his rule after driving out dravidian invaders from india a kind of savior figure for the people daod senna's uncle disguised him in a buddhist order as a child to hide him from the dravidians and he started a resistance movement once he grew up he then revitalized the country by building irrigation tanks and canals improving agricultural output data center also had a lot of wives and concubines with whom he had a lot of children kashyapa was the oldest but he wasn't heir to the throne because his mother wasn't an official raw consort that honor fell to magalana whose mother was the queen consort koshapur didn't find this particularly fair and began scheming to usurp his younger half-brother his chance came when his cousin megara who happened to be the commander of the king's army got in a disagreement with datto senna and agreed to carry out a coup with kashyappa in 477 a.d they stormed the royal palace which was at the time located at anaratapura a city about 70 kilometers or 45 miles northwest of sigiriya and took king darusana captive megara and kishiyapa imagined that king datusana had mountains of treasure hidden away and demanded that he hand it over however he instead led them to the kalauerwa a major water reservoir that had built in 460 a.d one of the largest irrigation tanks in the ancient world kalaua had some 123 million cubic meters of water over 32 billion gallons and it fed surrounding farmland via canals until reaching anradhipura where it provided drinking water for its population darussana proudly told his son and nephew that the massive public works project was the only treasure that he had kashyappa was furious and believing his father was insulting him he had the king executed in fact legend has it that keshiappa entombed datusena alive in the bund wall of the kalauer this ended up backfiring for kashyapa though darusena was a widely popular king having driven out foreign invaders and invested in his people as a result the citizens of anuradhapura despised kashiaba for killing him and nicknamed the new king pithru kashyappa which translates to kashyapa the father killer arguably an even bigger problem kashyapa's brother magalana managed to escape the coup and fled to india where he vowed revenge the popular in the capital and fearing an attack from his brother kishiba decided to move his residence to a more secure location sigiriya with its unobstructed view of the surrounding plains and forests seemed to be the perfect place alright we'll get back to today's video in just a moment but first here's a word from today's video sponsor squarespace it's very easy to get overwhelmed by the internet right now has a whole lot of complicated names and terms that most people don't really understand web3 blockchain seo the dark web the internet of things but don't let any of that intimidate you contrary to popular belief you don't have to be a web designer to start a website you just need a good idea and of course squarespace squarespace is the all-in-one toolkit that helps you transform that thing that's in your head 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that was more than just practical but luxurious as well it also contained impressive technological features for the time including a man-made reservoir on the south side of the rock and hydraulic systems that powered fountains that actually still work to this day altogether there were five gates with the westernmost reserved for the roles the site was divided into three primary sections the base the mid-level terrace on the top it was all protected by two moats and two ramparts at the bottom of the rock sigeria featured and still does some of the oldest landscape gardens in the world primarily located on the west side of the rock they represented a pleasure park for royalty who could walk their lengths and enjoy their beauty the complex consisted of three different types of gardens water gardens cave and boulder gardens and terraced gardens the water gardens were placed prominently in the centre of the eastern pleasure park the main garden built in the style called shah bagger this was an ancient garden form consisting of a large quadrilateral surrounded by water based on the four gardens of paradise mentioned in the koran the water gardens were purposefully designed to be symmetrical along the east-west axis and connected to the outer mode some included fountains supplied by underground water conduits that still function during the rainy season and one of them even had two artificial islands hosting summer palaces the boulder gardens are then built at the base of sigiriya where the rock column meets the eastern pleasure garden complex based on footings cut into the boulders it appears they once held buildings and pavilions these were for more than just recreation but also served as high defensive points in case of attack pathways through the bold gardens then led up the sloping hill at the base of sigeria through the terraced gardens which were formed by brick walls that wrapped around the circumference of the entire rock column leading up a series of terraces until you reach a limestone staircase that takes you to the mid-level terrace the mid-level terrace is defined by the lion gate from which sigiriya derived from sinhagiri sanskrit for lion rock gets its name the gate passes through two giant lions feet into a staircase that leads up to the top of the rock originally there was a lion's head above the gate but it has since collapsed going up the staircase you reached the famous mirror wall during kashyapa's rule the wall was covered in white plaster polish so vigorously that the king could see his reflection in it as he passed by past the mirror wall he would then ascend to a spiral staircase leading to sigeria's massive fresco gallery possibly the largest in the world at the time of its creation 150 metres long and 40 meters high for an area of 5 600 square meters over 60 thousand square feet and bigger than a football field the gallery included paintings of 500 women though most have faded or been erased over the centuries while some archaeologists theorize that the women wear religious images others posit that they were concubines of the king fitting with the concept of sigiriya as a pleasure palace finally on top of the rock sat khasiapa's palace complex and citadel the ruins of which are still there with elaborate staircases terraces water systems and military fortifications it's theorized that the entire complex took seven years to complete it served kashyap for nearly two decades until 495 oh and his family history finally caught up with him according to the cool of amsa a historical record of sri lanka collected by buddhist monks over the period from the 4th to the 19th centuries kashyapa's younger half brother moghalana the rifle heir to the throne raised an army while in india and finally returned to sri lanka in 495 to take back the kingdom despite kashyapa's hilltop fortress and years of preparation the fight was actually pretty anticlimactic as he rode out to meet his brother on a battle elephant kashyapa changed course to divert his forces in an attempt at gaining a strategic advantage however his army interpreted that as a retreat they turned and ran leaving kashyapa abandoned on the battlefield too proud to surrender the defeated king took his dagger from his sheath and cut his own throat magallana had little use for the pleasure palace of sigiriya to return the capital to anaradhapura he donated sigiriya to a buddhist sect which transformed the rock into a monastery complex interestingly it didn't take long for sigiriya to become a tourist attraction today the mirror wall is covered in poetry most of which dates to the 8th to 10th century based on the verses everyone from important officials to common citizens visited the rock and left over 1 500 poems mostly dedicated to the women in the frescoes many are beautiful examples of singerless literature featuring vibrant imagery and wordplay here's an example like geese who have seen a lake i listened to the message given by her like a bee who has seen full blown lotuses the bewildered heart of mine was consoled others uh light and humorous reflecting the popularity of sigeria as an ancient tourist site i am buddha i came with hundreds of people to see sigiriya since all the others wrote poems i did not eventually shifts in political power in sri lanka led to sigiriya's full abandonment in 1155. the shrinking kingdom of candy briefly used it as a military outpost in the 16th and 17th centuries but it was otherwise lost to anything but folklore in 1827 jonathan forbes a major with the british army in sri lanka became friends with george turner a british scholar and historian who had worked with the buddhist monk to translate and study the kulavamsa turner told forbes about the story of sigiriya as told in the book and forbes decided to go and look for it in 1831 he found it but because of the extent of forest growth that had encroached on the site he didn't find the lion gate or staircase but instead tried to climb the rock face itself he was unsuccessful at reaching the top the full extent of the site wasn't realized until british mountaineers reached the palace on top in 1851 after which an extensive archaeological survey was carried out by harry cp bell at the end of the 19th century then in 1982 the government of sri lanka started the cultural triangle project which included archaeological work on the entire ancient city now segeria is a unesco world heritage site recognized for its cultural significance to the sri lankan people millions travel to the site each year to appreciate the incredible examples of ancient urban planning and technology as well as the art and poetry plus regardless of how much is true and how much is legend the story of the playboy king his pleasure palace and the family feud that surround it continues to enthrall visitors today just as it did over a thousand years ago [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Megaprojects

Views: 206,448

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Id: AGuhDLEf5vU

Length: 12min 56sec (776 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 19 2022