Sigiriya Rock &The Elephants @ Habarana, Sri Lanka, Nov 2016

View from the Bungalow

5th Nov'2016, Habarana, Sri Lanka

I wake up in the morning after a nice seven-hour sleep. First in many days. Weeks. As I walk out of our bungalow relishing the fact, I see an elephant pass by. I rush to wake Mishti up before he is out of sight. Sleepy, rubbing her eyes she manages to catch a glimpse of the pachyderm.

As we go about our ablutions, another one passes by. And another one. We enquire and find out that just about 50 yards from our bungalow is the starting point for the elephant rides. Foreigners, white skinned basically, pay $20 per person for a 40 minute ride by a small lake. It's great value for them. But the Indian in me calls it a robbery. Anyways Mishti is not interested so I don't bother further.

Last night we arrived here at Habarana to this small bungalow. The location is great as our porch watches the lake. And of course the elephants can be seen through the day bathing, eating, getting dressed for the rides, shitting. (They shit way too much!) But otherwise there is no reason we should be here. Sigiriya rock fortress that we climbed today is 20kms away.

The Sigiriya Rock

It's one of those structures kings made to satiate their fancy of being a king. To feel the hardness each time you saw your creation. I sometimes wonder how much tourism and employment this ego generated for centuries to come. And to top it, such projects were the NERGA of those days that gave the economy a boost.

The story of Sigiriya is one of vision, grandeur, beauty and tragedy. It was built 1,600 years ago by a troubled but visionary king Kasyapa, who murdered his father by plastering him up in a wall. (Was Akbar the reborn Kasyapa? No just imagining since Humayun avenged his own death 1000 years later by serving the same treatment to Anarkali!) Anyways, back to our story. Fearing retaliation, Kasyapa also drove his brother into exile. He was eventually admonished by his people for his crime and tormented by guilt and fear. As a result he abandoned his original capital and built himself this fortress 600feet vertically on the top of a rock resplendent with lush gardens, palaces and pavilion. It takes one 1200 steps to reach the summit which we managed with Mishti. The views from the top were splendid. Oh yes, Kasyapa committed suicide not too long after the fortress was built.

The Hill Behind

Back home we refreshed ourselves with a chilled beer. Later, though tired, we still took a long walk by the lake watching birds such as the the hornbill, the kingfisher and many other unknowns.

As I write this, I sit atop this small hill right behind our bungalow and watch the quaint lake. The elephants keep passing, the foreigners keep giggling astride and against my wish, I allow the time to pass.