Image title: Asana Cave

English text:

Asana Cave—This is a cave with a drip-ledge, and it takes the name from the seat (asana) inside, carved out of the living rock. This has been made for the use of meditating monks when Sigiriya was a monastery before Kasyapa. Layers of painting belonging to several periods could be seen here. A striking feature is the presence among the, paintings of a few graffiti belonging to the 8-9 centuries A.D

In Sanskrit this would be known as Āsanaguha (आसनगुह, asana-guha).

Sinhala text (not proofread):

ආසන ගුහාව—මෙය කටාරම් කෙටූ ගල් ලෙනකි. මෙහි විශේෂ ලක්ෂණය නම් ලෙන තුළ, පිහිටි ගලෙහි ම නෙළා ඇති ආසනයයි. කාශ්‍යප යුගයට පෙර සීගිරිය සංඝාරාමයක් ව පැවති අවදියේදී භාවනානුයෝගී භික්‍ෂූන් වහන්සේලාගේ ප්‍රයෝජනය සඳහා මෙය පිළියෙල කර ඇති. අවධි කීපයකටම අයත් සිතුවම් ස්තර මෙහි දැකිය හැකි වේ. එම සිතුවම් ස්තර අතරෙහි ක්‍රි.ව. 8 - 9 සියවස වලට අයත් කුරුටු ගී කිහිපයක් ද හඳුනාගත හැකිවීම වැදගත්ය.

Transliteration:

āsana guhāva—meya kaṭāram keṭū gal lenaki. mehi viśēṣa lakṣaṇaya nam lena tuḷa, pihiṭi galehi ma neḷā æti āsanayayi. kāśyapa yugayaṭa pera sīgiriya saṅghārāmayak va pævati avadiyēdī bhāvanānuyōgī bhikṣūn vahansēlāgē prayōjanaya sandahā meya piḷiyela kara æti. avadhi kīpayakaṭama ayat situvam stara mehi dækiya hæki vē. ema situvam stara atarehi kri.va. 8 - 9 siyavasa valaṭa ayat kuruṭu gī kihipayak da handunāgata hækivīma vædagatya.

Transliteration:

asana guhava—meya kataram ketu gal lenaki. mehi vishesha lakshanaya nam lena tula, pihiti galehi ma nela ati asanayayi. kashyapa yugayata pera sigiriya sangharamayak va pavati avadiyedi bhavananuyogi bhikshun vahanselage prayojanaya sandaha meya piliyela kara ati. avadhi kipayakatama ayat situvam stara mehi dakiya haki ve. ema situvam stara atarehi kri.va. 8 - 9 siyavasa valata ayat kurutu gi kihipayak da handunagata hakivima vadagatya.

Automated translation:

Asana Cave—This is a dripstone cave. The special feature here is the seat carved out of the stone in the cave. This was prepared for the use of meditative monks when Sigiriya was a Sangharama before the Kasyapa era. Layers of paintings belonging to several phases can be seen here. Between the layers of paintings, AD. It is important to be able to recognize some krutu songs belonging to the 8th - 9th centuries.

Tamil text (not proofread):

தள அமைப்பிலான (ஆசனக் குகை)—இது தொட்டிகள் வெட்டப்பட்ட ஒரு கற்குகையாகும். இதன் விசேடமான இலட்சணம் என்ன வென்றால் இயற்கையான கல்லில் இருக்கை செதுக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. சிகிரியா சங்காராமை நிலவிய காலத்தில் தியானத்தில் பெடும் பிக்குமார்களின் பிரயோசனத்திற்காக இது தயாரிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. பல காலங்களுக்குரிய சித்திரத் தட்டுக்கள் இங்கு காணப்படுகின்றன. அந்த சித்திரங்களுக்கிடையே கி.பி. 8 9 நூற்றாண்டுகளுக்குரிய சில பாடல்கள் இனங்காணப்பட்டுள்ளமை விசேட முக்கியத்துவம் பெற்றவையாகும்.

Transliteration:

taḷa amaippilāṉa (ācaṉak kukai)—itu toṭṭikaḷ veṭṭappaṭṭa oru kaṟkukaiyākum. itaṉ vicēṭamāṉa ilaṭcaṇam eṉṉa veṉṟāl iyaṟkaiyāṉa kallil irukkai cetukkappaṭṭuḷḷatu. cikiriyā caṅkārāmai nilaviya kālattil tiyāṉattil peṭum pikkumārkaḷiṉ pirayōcaṉattiṟkāka itu tayārikkappaṭṭuḷḷatu. pala kālaṅkaḷukkuriya cittirat taṭṭukkaḷ iṅku kāṇappaṭukiṉṟaṉa. anta cittiraṅkaḷukkiṭaiyē ki.pi. 8 9 nūṟṟāṇṭukaḷukkuriya cila pāṭalkaḷ iṉaṅkāṇappaṭṭuḷḷamai vicēṭa mukkiyattuvam peṟṟavaiyākum.

Transliteration:

thala amaippilana (asanag kugai)—ithu thottigal vettappatta oru karkugaiyagum. ithan visedamana iladsanam enna venral iyarkaiyana kallil irukkai sethukkappattullathu. sigiriya sangaramai nilaviya kalathil thiyanathil pedum pikkumarkalin pirayosanathirkaga ithu thayarikkappattullathu. pala kalangalukkuriya sithirath thattukkal ingu kanappaduginrana. antha sithirangalukkidaiye ki.pi. 8 9 nurrandugalukkuriya sila padalkal inanganappattullamai viseda mukkiyathuvam perravaiyagum.

Automated translation:

Floor Structure (Asana Cave)—It is a stone cave with tanks cut into it. Its special feature is that the seat is carved out of natural stone. It was prepared for the use of Bhikkumars meditating during the reign of Sigiriya Sankaram. Painting plates from many eras are found here. Among those images are AD. Of particular importance are the identification of some hymns dating back to the 8th and 9th centuries.

Gallery information:

These photos are taken at the Sigiriya rock in Sri Lanka. This archaeological important site dates to the 2nd century BC when it functioned as a monastery. In the fifth century, King Kassapa I transferred the administrative centre from Anuradhapura to Sigiriya in order to  rule from there. The on-site museum displays various artifacts and paintings found at the Sigiriya rock.