Another of the Cultural Trangle’s great historical sites is the Sigiriya citadel. Arriving soon after sunrise it is a delight to wander alone through the ornarmental gardens laid out by King Kassapa in the fifth century. Two hundred meters above you towers the rock of Sigiriya topped build by the palace Kassapa

Past the gardens you begin to climb and soon reach the most famous feature of Sigiriya, a series of exquisitely executed fifth-century fresco painting of bare-breasted celestial nymphs.

There were perhaps 500 of these images, originally covering an area of 140m long by up to 40m high. Only twenty-two remain.

The stairs to the summit pass between the paws and originally continued up through the lion’s body.