The citadel of Sigiriya, the literal fortress in the Sky, founded 1,500 years ago by the King Kassapa (447-495 A.D.), is one of the most remarkable creations in the world for its construction, artistry and irrigation. Once being a resort of pleasure, a citadel of beauty and fortress of strength, today, Sigiriya offers her visitors a gallery of 5 th century painting coupled with landscaped gardens unmatched by any contemporary citadel in the world.

The Heavenly Maidens today preserved as a part of the worlds artistic heritage have been admired by both the maestros of art and the average traveler.

The entrance to the Sigiriya is a rock carving and a brick structure of an open mouthed Lion through which millions of people walk in to admire this great creation.

The summit of the rock, 600 ft above the ground level, where the Royal palace was situated, gives a breathtakingly beautiful scenery of the surroundings.

Preserved as a site of world's artistic heritage by the UNESCO, large areas of the Sigiriya citadel are left unexcavated and left to be explored using more advanced and finer techniques of finding the past.

Dambulla for many centuries had remained the habitation of forest dwelling monks who had minimal contacts with the public. It is now famous for the rock temple of infinite Buddhas. The rock ceiling is one large sweep of colourful paintings of Lord Buddha and his previous incarnations dating back to the first century BC.

The principal shrine at Dambulla, known as the Rangiri Dambulu Viharaya, or the golden cave temple of Dambulla, has been cited in a number of religious and historical texts. The images in a number of postures are those of the Buddha, the bodhisattvas, gods and goddesses, monks, disciples and kings. Covering 25,000 square feet, the area of paintings in the shrine is the largest in South Asia and the oldest in the world.

The Rangiri Dambulu Viharaya has five temples each having various images of lord Buddha, Gods and the Kings who had built the temples from time to time. In one of the cave temples is a fascinating outcome formed due to the flaw in the formation of the rock, where water seeps into the cave through a tiny space created on the rock ceiling. This water is collected into a bowl and with time it has acquired sanctity, religious and ritual interest and now being used for various religious functions.