The Sigiriya complex has been developed around the 600 feet tall mountain and acted as the capital of the country, in the 5th century AD. It was the glorious Art Gallery and Palace cum Fortress of King Kashyapa in the 5th century AD. The Palace was built on the top of the rock, while below spangled the water gardens, not second to similar gardens in the world of a very acute geometrical symmetry, these water gardens are reminders of those in Egypt and Persia.

The rock gardens similar to those in far East countries, evoke wonder at the ingenuity of the craftsmen. The Sigiriya paintings, an epitome of the very refined art of the east, together with the Sigiri graffiti scrawled on the rock surface, have made Sigiriya world famous. This has been nominated as a World Heritage in 1982.