Boulder Garden

Sigiriya's Boulder gardens are marked in contrast to the symmetry and geometry of the water gardens. It consists of a number of winding pathways in and out of the artistic clusters or solitude large natural boulders, its charm and romance springing from its very unorganized state. According to scholars upon every single rock or boulder in this garden was a building or pavilion.

Today the honeycomb of holes left on these boulders were infact the foundations of ancient brick walls and of timber columns and beams. Notable features here include the Cistern rock and the Audience Hall rock where upon its flat summit is a 5 metre throne carved out of the same living rock and the Preaching rock. Distinct in artistic style and nature from the water and boulder gardens is Sigiriya's Terraced gardens.

The main path then leads to the Sigiriya boulder gardens. The design uses natural boulder placements around the base rock to create a set of brick and woodworks. None of the original buildings survive today. Yet, the rock-cut footings on the boulders that supported the walls and pillars are visible. The boulder garden is asymmetrical. It uses the natural contour and boulder placements to create a high aesthetic effect that is almost modern.

Three natural caves are also identified as the garden’s features. They are the Deraniyagala cave, cobra hooded cave, and asana cave. Some rare fifth-century murals can be seen on the cave ceilings as well. An inscription here states that this area was used by meditating Buddhist monks since the third century BCE. This makes it the oldest archaeological site in the Sigiriya rock fortress.