Thomas William Rhys Davids

“ Popular with the people, the king could not control his own family; and as the outcome of a palace intrigue in 477 his son Kasyapa had declared himself king, and taken his father prisoner. Threatened with death on his refusing to say where his treasure lay hid, the old king told them to take him to the tank. ”

“ Then Kasyapa had his father built up alive into a wall. Meanwhile Kasyapa’s brother had escaped to India and was plotting a counter revolution. It was then that the parricide prepared his defence. He utilized his father’s engineers in the construction of a path or gallery winding up round the Sīgiri rock. Most of it was made, by bursting the rock by means of wooden wedges, through the solid granite, and its outside parapet was supported by walls of brick resting on ledges far below. It is a marvellous piece of work. ”

“ The fresco paintings in the galleries are perhaps the most interesting of the extant remains. They are older than any others found in India, and have been carefully copied, and, as far as possible, preserved. ”