The Mirror Wall, at Sigiriya
In the fifth century AD, the Sri Lankan King, Kashyapa built a new home for his royal court at the mountain fortress of Sigiriya. The King lavishly decorated his new residence with fabulous frescos of the court ladies. These murals became a draw for thousands of visitors who flocked to the former royal palace between the sixth and the fourteenth centuries. They were also the inspiration for graffiti, which adorns Sigiriya’s equally famous Mirror Wall.
The Mirror Wall lay just beyond the frescos. It was built as a façade for the sheer rock wall that edged the path the visitors followed when passing to and from the pictures. Glazed with a smooth lime mortar, that was burnished to give the reflective sheen that gave the wall its name, the Mirror Wall was the perfect place for visitors overcome by their impressions of Sigiriya and its frescos, to unburden themselves. Much of the graffiti takes the form of poetry inspired by the murals and their impressive subject matter: the elegant “golden-skinned ladies” who were depicted in various states of undress.
One poem muses how one of the images: ” stirs to break the stillness and ask if we could bear to know her tragic story.” Others concentrate on the ladies attributes: “Ah the golden coloured one on the mountainside” eulogized one enamored poet, “who entices ones eye and mind and whose breasts, delightful to look at directed my mind to the intoxicated swans” Others were more poetical:” I became prostrate on this rock having seen my hearts content the five hundred damsels on the surface of the rock and having remembered one of them. Heaven itself does not take my mind.”
Some visitors were inspired by Sigiriya itself: “Having climbed (Sigiriya) I am delighted with the site created by the natural surroundings of Sri Lanka, “one visitor commented. Nor did everyone who wanted to make their mark on Sigiriya fancy themselves as a poet. “I am Budal who wrote this stated one visitors. ” I came with a crowd and saw Sihigiri. I did not write a song as many people have written them.”
The graffiti have helped experts identify 1000 previously unknown words used in the Sinhala language during the period in question. However, the identity of the visitors also tells us something about their motives for visiting Sigiriya in the first place. Of the 685 people identified, only 12 were women. These men came from all walks of life; they were officials and nobles, soldiers and metalworkers. It seemed for men at least, Sigiriya was all about the ladies.
Sri Lankan tourists were not the only ones who liked to leave their mark on the places they visited. So did the Vikings.