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Pidurangala
Two kilometres from Sigiriya, Pidurangala is a large rock outcrop home to the Pidurangala Royal Cave Temple and the Pidurangala Sigiri Tajamaha Viharaya, a white temple at the bottom of the hillside. Near the summit of the Pidurangala Rock Cave Temple there is a long reclining Buddha as well as figures of Vishnu and Saman painted with murals. Its history is closely related to the Sigiriya Rock Fortress’s but it is harder to climb and a less dramatic rock formation. Pidurangala area has been home to monks for over 2,500 years who lived in the surrounding caves. The area found importance when King Kasvapa (477 – 495 AD), who built Sigiriya, transferred monks living around Sigiriya Rock to the larger monastery at Pidurangala.
To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.
Bill Bryson