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Description: The monumental complex of Sigiriya, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is located in the central province of Sri Lanka and traditionally has been deemed to be the capital and the site of the palace of Kassapa I, 5th-6th century AD. Drawing on archaeological, literary, religious and cultural evidence from Sigiriya, and from Sri Lanka and India in general, Raja de Silva casts doubt on earlier interpretations of the site as a palace or fortress, suggesting instead that Sigiriya was never 'the abode of a God King,' but was a long-standing monastery built several centuries before the time of Kassapa. The paintings for which Sigiriya has long been famous are reinterpreted, not as ladies from Kassapa's court, but as representations of Tara, the most important goddess in Mahayana Buddhism to whom the building was dedicated
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