Reading Architecture in Landscape: Visitor Reflections at a Mirror Wall (Sigiriya, Sri Lanka)

A unique set of visitor inscriptions on Sigiriya's Mirror Wall (7th–13th centuries) reveals how the site's architecture and landscape were designed to shape poetic responses. These inscriptions, written in an emergent literary language derived from spoken Sinhala, demonstrate a deliberate curation of visitor experiences through mental imagery and regulated textual representation. The study suggests that visiting Sigiriya was not just a personal rite of passage but also a historical event that strengthened both the literary community and its designed landscape. By analyzing these inscriptions alongside the site's architecture, researchers propose a new understanding of Sigiriya’s gardens as integral to its cultural and poetic significance.

Kumar-Dumas, D. (2022). Reading Architecture in Landscape: Visitor Reflections at a Mirror Wall (Sigiriya, Sri Lanka). Art, Architecture, and the Moving Viewer, c. 300-1500 CE, 150–184. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004510555_007