Mirror Wall
Kat Bitha - The Mirror Wall
The term Mirror Wall is an attempt at translating the word used by the ancient writers.They used the term Kat Bitha for this wall enclosing a walk or gallery leading up to the Lion Staircase.
According to the Sigiri Graffitis; The lime plaster of the brick masonry wall had been so highly polished, that it had reflected the paintings on the opposite rock wall. Today, fifteen centuries later, the shine on this wall can still be seen.
Graffiti
A total of nearly 1500 writings have now been deciphered. The first study and publication was by Prof. Senerat Paranavitana which itself is a masterpiece of the literary, social and creative activities of the period, the earliest recorded poetry found in Sri Lanka.
Since Sigiriya was abandoned after Kasyapa's death, visitors had been attracted to it from around the 6th century till about the 13th century.
They had come to see the paintings and the palace on the summit and the garden below, even as they do today. Inspired by the wonder they saw, they transferred their thoughts into poetry, which they wrote on the Mirror Wall.
Most of these graffiti were addressed to the ladies in the paintings. These writings have been studied in detail by Paranavitana, in his masterpiece "Sigiri Graffiti", describing the people who had written them, their ideas, their way of life and the grammar and style of a period ranging over a span of over eight centuries.