POSTCARD N.174 - SRI LANKA

Postcard sent on the 20th January, received on the 28th January 2025.

Postcard image: The Lion's paws at Sigiriya 

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The entrance to the  royal palace of Sigiria, Sri Lanka's capital in the 5th century, and a current UNESCO World Heritage Site,  sitting atop what is known as the lion rock, was made through a stairway that penetrated the monumental head of a brick sculpted lion.

Today, all that remains of this huge sculpture are the lion's paws, the subject of this rather nice card Ravindra set me.  Bohomȧ  sthoothi, Ravi! I hope to see in loco one day, but uuntil that time comes, your nice postcards are a great apetiser... :-).

The Ancient city of Sigiriya, is one of the eight UNESCO declared World Heritage Sites, six of cultural and two of natural nature.

As I mentioned a propos cover #385, The top of the lion mountain was chosen by King Kashyapa on the late 5th century as the place to erect  Sri Lanka's capital, something that  could only be attributed to the facility in defending it from any ill intended creature, be it human or animal, since  the site is a huge rock massive, protruding from the forest below, which makes it quite difficult to reach or attack from below.

In fact, it turns out that  Kashyapa was a parricide and he build his palace on top of what is known as the Lion Mountain, so as to defend himself from the vengeance of his brother, who, nonetheless, succeeded in defeating him, Kashyapa committing suicide afterwards.

After this episode, the site was progressively abandoned, having served as a Buddhist monastery until the 14th century.

The site was declared of WHS importance in 1982, UNESCO highlighting the fact that the frescoes existing on the site inaugurated a style which endured many centuries, and also that the poems inscribed on the rock walls bi visitors, known as Sigiri graffiti, are among the most ancient texts in Sinhalese language.

The 50 rupee stamp is part of a set of four  issued (2 x 50 + 2 x 110 rupee) on 15JUN2023, dedicated to the Sigiriya site, all illustrated with aerial views of it, and bearing the legends the legends “Sigiryia”, “World Heritage Sites Sri Lanka” as well as the UNESCO logo.

The 20 rupee stamp is part of a large set of butterfly themed stamps issued on 01DEC2022, and it depicts a Pale Ceylon line blue (Nacaduba sinhala), a member of the Lycaenidae family, endemic to Ceylon.