Sigiriya, a magnificent and mysterious palace in the clouds

Symmetry with a well-balanced touch of asymmetry (see that winding little path left from the central axis...?): view from the top of the huge Sigiriya rock, towards the water gardens at the foot of it.

 

When I travel, I try to be at least reasonable well prepared. I check out properly the places I am going to, read up on their history and sights, and generally do some research in advance in order to get as much as possible out of the trips. But at times, despite all this, some places still manage to take me by quite a surprise... Sigiriya on northeastern Sri Lanka managed to do exactly so during the recent holidays.

 

Now, Sri Lanka itself is quite a spectacular little island, filled with exquisite cultural sites, lush emerald green jungle, mines filled with precious stones, misty tea plantations and long sandy beaches. Its earlier names, Ceylon and Serendib (used by Arab traders  - the word "serendipity", meaning "fortunate happenstance" or "pleasant surprise" stem from this name...) still evoke thoughts of bygone days in the tropics.

View towards the Sigiriya rock rising from the jungle and with the advanced pleasure gardens leading to it - it is said that King Kassapa had 400 maidens living in his palace, and that he enjoyed watching them bathing in the large pools...

 

Primitive metal scaffolding leads to the top of the rock, which made me question what we had undertaken as I'm quite afraid of heights. In the ancient times, bamboo was used instead of metal, and I wonder how many builders lost their lives making the first version...

 

The history of the island goes back millenniums, and even written such about reaches about three thousand years back. Visited by seafarers since ancient times, and often attacked and even invaded or colonialized by foreign powers, those many cultures have added their own footnotes to the story of the island.

 

Given such a long, rich history, the island is filled with cultural treasures - for example, a total of eight UNESCO World Heritage sites are crammed within its compact shores. One of the most interesting of these (according to my own, very personal rating..) is Sigiriya, part a pleasure palace, part a fortress and part a sacred complex from the late 5th century. No-one knows what it was built for so its history is shrouded in mystery, the first written records are from almost 800 years after its glory days.

 

A couple of more pictures of the water gardens at the foot of the rock. Technically very advanced for their time, they even contain bubbling fountains, fed by water led via underground pipes from the higher levels.

Two pictures showing how the palace and other buildings on the rock were constructed: first, cuts were hacked into the stone; tiles were inserted into these, and walls built on the base. Many of the buildings have disappeared and only the initial cuts show on the rocks and cliffs.  

 

Rising some 200 meters above the jungle around, the site consists of vast pleasure gardens at the foot of the rock, and ruins of a palace on middle and top of it. Some historians believe that King Kassapa I (also spelled Kasyapa) built the huge complex during his 18-year long reign in late 5th century; others (what seems more realistic) think that he extended an existing holy site or Buddhist monastery.

 

Halfway up the rock, a difficult to reach rocky shelter in the vertical wall (the "orange band" in the rock wall in above pictures) houses rock paintings of extremely high artistic quality depicting 21 female figures called 'The Maidens of the Clouds'. There are many theories but no definitive answers to what these beautiful figures represent - they might be goddesses, or jewel-bedecked court ladies... For centuries after Kassapa's defeat, travelers came to Sigiriya just to see these lovely ladies, and scribbled their appreciative poems into the surrounding walls.

Kassapa's own history is another mystery. According to some sources, he committed patricide and threw his brother out of the country; then fearful for his defeated brother to return from exile to extract vengeance, built and moved into his fortress and palace on the top of the huge rock. Now, sitting at the top of a rock wouldn't seem smart as a strategy as it would be easy for any attackers to just cut out all supplies and wait until the targets would surrender, which makes many historians suspicious of the theory. But no-one has quite been able to put together the complete story; the only thing we know for sure is that Kassapa's brother did eventually come back, and that in the face of a certain defeat, Kassapa took his own life. Afterwards, Sigiriya was used as a Buddhist monastery (again?), and became one of the earliest tourist site probably in the whole world: a wall on the way up to the top still has well-preserved "graffitis" since 1600 years back - nothing is really new under the sun.

 

A terrace with water tanks halfway up the rock.

Not nearly as well-known as the Angkor Wat in Cambodia, I found Sigiriya every bit as impressive even if it is much smaller - no pictures, especially mine taken in a pouring rain, really make justice to the genius that planned and produced it. Just thinking of the ancient builders chiseling the steps into the vertical rock wall, and carrying all building materials on the top of the huge rock using only bamboo scaffoldings make be dizzy. As tourism at Sri Lanka has increasing fast since the 30-year long civil war ended in 2009, I'm not sure how this site can be properly protected from the negative effects of huge crowds (it is very sensitive, given the extreme nature of its construction), as even now, it seems on the brink of what the site can cope with. But I sincerely hope that careful thought and generous resources will be available to save it to the future generations.

The Lion Gate halfway up the rock; originally, it consisted of a face of a lion with the paws underneath (only the paws remain). It is thought to be a symbol of the Buddha, also called the "Lion of the Sakyas" (Sakya is the clan into which the historical Buddha was born into). 

Another view from the top of the rock, towards the water gardens below.

There are several water tanks and bathing pools even at the top of the huge rock; it is said, that Kassapa was fond of bathing - and of watching his court ladies bathing. Water is collected during the wet monsoon, but interestingly, there was even a hydraulic water pump system that provided water from the ground level.

One of the many natural stone "gates" leading from the top back to the ground level.

 

 Kassapa's deserted stone throne - it is said that he sat on the top level with his closest courtiers (upper left corner), and the visitors and administrators had to shout their messages to him from the stone set on the lower level (lower right in the picture). Sounds quite remarkable to me - but then, everything about Sigiriya is pretty remarkable... and absolutely magnificent. 

 

Gunnebo, again

The little Gunnebo Castle called, again - its powers of seduction (not least in form of delicious lunches served in the kitchen garden....) are still quite potent, it seems.

 

As I've written earlier, the little castle of Gunnebo together with its gardens really is a love story gone awfully wrong. Like a greedy mistress, it seduced and held its masters captured until all their means were exhausted, eventually driving them to bankruptcy and destitution. The story is touching - who doesn't love a dose of true madness? - and the buildings and gardens are a perfect example of late 18th century architecture inspired  the Palladian villas of Italy and gardens of Louis XIV in France. A real pearl, and an escapist dream inspired by the southern latitudes of Europe, landed amongst the northern forests and shores of Sweden.

 

For the whole tragic story of Gunnebo, see my earlier post here.

 

An 18th century drawing of Gunnebo; the orangerie on the right is under reconstruction for the moment; it will probably be completed next year.

 

 Almost the same view today, only from another angle...

 

 

Sculptures still surround the pool seen in the pictures above.

Cows lazily grazing just south from the fountain pool.

Walking back on the side of the terraces of the formal gardens...

An unusual view towards the building from a little hill by the "castle" - that really is too small to be called so.

The kitchen gardens (in opposite direction from the hill where I took the previous photo).

I do love the kitchen gardens - so beautifully composed.

The handsome orangerie/green house again... I wrote about it even in my earlier Gunnebo post.

Just beautiful, couldn't help taking loads of pictures...

"Advanced horticultural science" - they still train the apples on trellises attached to the walls of the kitchen garden. Look at all the pears!

And back to the castle - it was lovely to stand in the shade under the main terrace (which you can see from the garden in the first picture).   

 

 

And a final view from the terrace, with the fountain forming the focus of the central axis - Gunnebo is such a delightful little example of 17th/18th century European garden design, in the middle of the forests of southern Sweden.

Tiny tidbits from Paris...

Breakfast at the Jardin des Tuileries: created in 1564, (redesigned and) opened to the public in 1667, and still going strong. I just love the sense of history and permanence in Paris and other old European cities; it makes me feel safe, and part of the chain of humanity.

 

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Paris? I had almost forgotten myself, until we spent two very touristy and busy days there now in July, before flying further to Stockholm (and Seattle, for part of the family). Luckily, my girls, especially my cosmopolitan and artistic oldest, loved the city too with a passion, so I can hopefully look forward to some wonderful trips there when in Stockholm again - I can't believe it will be only 2.5 hours away then...

 

More from the Tuileries, designed by André Le Nôtre in 1664, with the enormous vases and now quite wildly planted "plate-bandes" that are parts of the majestically formal design.

View towards the Musée du Louvre; Parisians and tourists alike relax on the chairs generously strewn everywhere in the park.

 

Actually, my first memory of Paris involves getting lost in the Louvre. My siblings and I ran off from our parents without telling them where, eager to see the Mona Lisa (I was about ten years old then). Grown in a very small town as we were, we didn't quite grasp how enormous the old museum was - it would probably fill the whole city center of Turku. Of course, our parents panicked and were understandably upset and angry, when they found us two hours later, tired and scared, sitting in front of the famous painting and not knowing what to do or whom to ask for help.

 

Later, I travelled to Paris quite often during my years as a "business woman". As the Nordic Marketing Manager, I reported the European Director seated at the European headquarters at La Defense (the "business phase" of my life went over pretty fast, but I still smile at the memories of me and my laptop, traipsing around Europe and US trying to look very professional...). The best things from that time was that whenever possible, I saved the company money and "sacrificed" my free time by staying over the weekend in Paris - in those good old days, flight tickets were cheaper that way, not a bad way to be thrifty... And I can't ever forget a weeklong trip to Paris with my Art History professors; a full week of listening to their amazing stories about pretty much everything within art, history and architecture while walking through the streets and museums is one of my fondest memories of my years at the Stockholm University...

 

Musée du quai Branly on the edge of the Quai Branly and the Seine, and only hundred meters from the Eiffel Tower, has one of the lushest wall gardens on its façade.

The 200 meters long and 12 meter high green wall on the exterior of the museum was designed and planted by Gilles Clément and Patrick Blanch, masters of the vertical gardening. I do love it, but it looks at the same time... quite hirsute???

 

This time, I really wasn't on a garden trip, but have a couple of photos that I took along the way. Paris is extremely beautiful, even when we only got to the busy and most "tourist-affected" areas (we were tourists, too, I don't mean to be judgmental here...). What you need in these old European cities is time; time to walk, time to enjoy, time to find your own little sweet spots and haunts... the little cafes and special park benches, winding streets and surprising views. So even if I love Asia too, I really can't wait to be back in "good old Europe" at some stage, hopefully not all to far in the future, again.

What I love about Paris (and Stockholm, and many, many other old European cities) is the scale; four to six floors, almost no skyscrapers towering over the horizon and dwarfing the human beings. Also, I love the alleys, the parks and the plantings... and the way people make nests of their homes, with beautiful greenery flowing over (of course, this is the world of the lucky ones, but let me be a bit naïve for just a moment...). That's were I would like to live, in that apartment with the blooming balcony... Not likely, but at least I'll be able to visit more often from Stockholm.

 

Flower fields at Nyckelviken

The mid-18th century gazebo at Nyckelviken would be the perfect place for romantic meetings - I'm sure that the young members of the owning families sneaked out here for little tête-à-têtes every now and then...

Nyckelviken is one of my favorites, a small 18th century manor house just 10 minutes outside the city center (yes, despite trying to be so cool, Stockholm is that small). Arriving through the gravel drive through the forest, and walking down the long alley flanked by old lindens transfers you back in time to the countryside, despite being so near to the bustle of the modern world.

 

First glimpse of the vegetable gardens from the linden alley.

The manor house, now serving as a café and a restaurant...

The cute little billiard wing, which was also used for dinner dances. Please, can I be "transferred" to a 18th century dance party here, just for once?

 

Stora Nyckelviken, the yellow-painted main house, was built by Swedish East India Company director Herman Peterson around 1746, and has since then been owned by many nobilities and well-known personalities of the Swedish history. The original form of the building, including the color that was supposed to imitate sandstone from Italy, is still beautifully preserved, even if it is now somewhat "degraded" and serves as a café and a restaurant. There are two additional, red-painted wings, a billiard wing (also used for dinner dances in the olden days), a beautiful gazebo and several barns together with other utility buildings, some of which now house rabbits, chicken, pigs, ponies and other cute animals for kids to pet. In summer, the cliffs by the sea are excellent for swimming, and in wintertime, the long hills leading to the cliffs by the sea are perfect for sledding. There are even outdoor fire pits and sitting places where everyone can barbeque their home-brought sausages. Not surprisingly, Nyckelviken is popular among families living in the area, including mine; I have many fond memories of my girls with red cheeks and frozen little fingers, waiting impatiently for their hotdogs and hot cordial after a couple of hours in the snow.

 

One of the small, red-painted wings, now a tiny local museum...

 The central axis leading via the gardens from the manor to the gazebo; it is so good to see that the baroque style and elements have been preserved even when the garden styles have changed during the centuries.

 Flower fields in the old vegetable gardens; only part of them now grow edibles.

 

The old gardens still have their central baroque axis leading from the manor to the gazebo, and old lilac hedges separate the wings and the "garden proper" from the vegetable gardens. The many owners of Nyckelviken used to grow vegetables for the household both for the manor and for their houses in the city, but today, the gardens are mainly for show and for testing different gardening practices and for education - some lucky local school kids get to help harvesting the produce in the autumn. And of course, as "fika"(having a coffee, preferable with a cinnamon bun) is somewhat of a national sport in Sweden, there is an excellent café that serves delicious concoctions - many of which are baked with the fruits an berries from the gardens - for the hungry wanderer. Absolutely lovely, and well worth a detour if you are in the area.

 

 Beans and peonies in the kitchen garden... 

 

 Rows and rows of flowers in the cutting garden...

  ...and a final picture from the cutting garden, with the unusual orangery (nearly no glass panes - what kind of orangery is that?) in the background.

 

Buried in Paradise: Humayun's Tomb in Delhi

Huge, old sacred figs form a calm, shady oasis at an intersection of the huge grid of walkways and water channels in the garden around Humayun's Tomb.
*

Entering the paradise gardens surrounding the second Mughal Emperor Humayun's tomb in Delhi is like life in India crystallized. From the trash-filled misery of the begging poor lining the streets of Delhi, you walk through a shady enclosure lined with glossy sacred ashoka trees (Saraca indica) and step via a towering gate into the light, to the 'abodes' of a few chosen who continue to inhabit an earthly paradise even long after their deaths. Contrasts and more contrasts everywhere.
*

The towering entrance gate, as seen from outside the walled garden, and from the platform of the huge tomb. In Farsi, the walled garden is called "pairi daeza", which evolved into "paradise" in English and to many related words in other European languages.

While Sikandar Lodi's Tomb from early 16th century (see earlier post) was the first walled garden tomb in the Indian subcontinent, Humayun's Tomb was the example for later Mughal rulers to follow. Commissioned by Emperor Humayun's devoted wife Hamida Banu Begam in 1562, it took eight years to complete. The design was so successful that when the fifth Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan, lost his beloved wife Empress Mumtaz Mahal, he used Humayuan's Tomb as a basis for his design of Taj Mahal, that was to be the crowning glory of huge Mughal mausoleums in India. I find the symmetry here rather lovely: one built by a loving, favorite wife to her husband, the other by a devoted husband to his favorite wife...

View from the gate, and then from the square fountain midway to the tomb. Even without the surrounding four minarets, it is easy to see that Taj Mahal was inspired by Humayun's magnificent mausoleum. Despite being an UNESCO World Heritage site, there were relatively few visitors at the gardens and mausoleum, a complete opposite to the huge crowds by the Taj Mahal.

Built in red sandstone and marble on the bank of river of Yamuna that has since changed its course, this large tomb in its 26-acre garden is surrounded from three sides by high walls (originally, the river formed the "wall" on the fourth side). The tomb forms the centre of this charbagh (or chahar bagh) garden that is divided into four quadrants by four wide pathways. Narrower pathways, with water channels representing the Quranic paradise, further divide each quadrant into grids of eight squares, the ninth being occupied with the enormous tomb on its platform. The central water channel looks like it disappears under the tomb and reappears on the other side, according to a line from the Quran:

But they who believe and do things that are right. We will bring them into garden beneath which rivers flow. Forever shall they abide therein. Truly it is the promise of God.

Details from inside the tomb; carved stone lattice screens called jalis let the wind flow through, the first one shows the direction of Mecca. Two tombs of female family members - tombs of females have a writing tablet on the top of them as here, and tombs of males have a pen case (see last picture of this post). The domes inside were all beautifully decorated and are still being restored after years of neglect. Here, a palm leaves together with lotus flowers form the motif.

The Akbarnāma, or the Book of Akbar, the official chronicle of the reign of Akbar, Humayun's son and the third Mughal Emperor (r. 1556–1605) describes what originally grew in the garden. Hibiscus, a popular plant with the Mughals, formed large clusters along the pathways. Mangoes, that have been cultivated in India for centuries, grew also together with pomegranates, one of the four trees mentioned to grow in the gardens of paradise together with figs, olives and date palms according to the Holy Quran. Humayun's father, the first Mughal Emperor Babur who was a great lover of gardens, mentioned eight different species of citrus in his writings, and it is highly probable that at least some of the species were also grown in the garden grave of his son.
*

I would have needed a wide-angle lens for these pictures... but they still show a part of the huge grid design of the garden. Some of the intersections have platforms where tents were raised (the first picture above, now a tree grows in the middle of the platform), and some have water ponds.

Today, the plantings are restored after long periods of neglect - at some stage, they were even used as kitchen gardens by the poor of the surrounding villages (now part of Delhi), which is understandable, but certainly destructive for an architectural work of art as this. Large trees, such as neem (Azadirachta indica) and sacred fig (Ficus religiosa) stand in the intersections of the waterchannels. Some handsome palm trees stand in attendance near the platform of the tomb and cypress trees flank the walkways. Only an occasional hibiscus and citrus offer a discreet note of color in this otherwise solemn garden that still so well conveys  reflection of the (at least imaginary) paradise beyond our earthly existence.

 Even the platform contains tombs for the lesser members of the family; this is a tomb of a deceased male, as it has a pen case on the top. Despite being a UNESCO World Heritage site, Humayun's Tomb is a serene, magnificent site which is very much worth visiting while in Delhi.