Sigiriya Rock Fortress: Some References & Unusual Photographs

This presentation is a pot pourri …. commencing with a striking photograph of those who provided the labour for restoration work in the British era …. proceeding to references for items within Thuppahi and then moving to present some more photographs (quite striking these) of restoration work in the past that were unearthed by Raja De Silva and then providing some amateur shots associated with one Michael Roberts. The first photograph in this excursion into our island’s past has been selected consciously to mark and honour the sweating labour that went into the tasks of restoring access to the ruins and its magnificent mementoes. This labout, it is evident,was mostly Indian Tamil …. drawn perhaps from the same sources as those that provided labour for the coffee, tea, rubber and coconut plantations that were being developed then in the late 19th century. This is buta tiny memento marking their work ….and placing them alongside the British and Sri Lankan administrators who organised the tasks of archaelogical preservation.

…. & THEN there are the personal ‘excursions’ by Michael Roberts and his family members within this majestic and fascinating terrain on the rock or on the way up