When travelling around Sri Lanka, you can’t help but see how many temples there are. Not surprising when seventy per cent of the population are Buddhists and the religion’s roots in Sri Lanka go back to the 3rd century BC. There are so many temples I have visited over 22 years. Many I’ve written about. Little Sigiriya is the name many people call the Mulgirigala Raja Maha Viharaya.

The drive there is not going well as the driver has no navigating skills and he keeps stopping and asking perfect strangers what road he should be on. On booking the car, he had told me he knew the way to the temple. I revert to my phone’s satnav to make my point. Many Sri Lankan drivers have an arrogant streak about directions/routes.

I’m welcomed by a light-skinned monk with a white-skin pigment mutation. He has a big beaming smile and speaks perfect English. I wonder how many languages he speaks. He informs me, “It’s only shoes off inside any room.” Thank God for that, given the size of the place and the number of steps to climb. The temple, which is now non-active, was built in many stages up a hill with about 500 steps (673 feet high). There are buildings at vantage points on the climb.

The first building I pass is a police station with about four dogs outside, two of them look half dead with hardly any hair, clearly in pain. There are numerous levels to climb with different features: white stupas, and a bo tree, but then you go into long rooms set into the rock with long-lying Buddhas. There are four about 20 ft long. There are also rows of standing Buddhas in two cave rooms.

Many ancient decorated walls are explained by the tour guide. I’m not in his group but he speaks loudly enough for me to eavesdrop. A bathing area set into the rock may also have been the water supply. Climbing again, there are more buildings. At the very top, about seven hundred feet up, there is a stupa and panoramic views over the countryside for miles.

The history of the place starts around 80 BC with King Valagamba creating a shrine. Then King Dhatusena around 477 AD started the building activity. The shrine near the top was added in the third century. There are cave inscriptions from the sixth, seventh, ninth, and tenth centuries. In 1988, the site came under the archaeology department of the government.

It’s time to descend and whilst you can use the so-called quicker basic steps to cut into the rock, I recommend the more recent safer steps. One local monk in a non-active temple with a series of Buddhist monuments and statues in this religious historic location. Some renovation is going on, which is a good thing.

Sadly, I saw only six other people in my climb up and down the hilltop, about ninety minutes. Two of those I think had given up partway on the climb, then an English couple who had a tour guide, who I listened to as much as possible without making it obvious. I did the main climb on Sigiriya about two decades ago. I’m happy to find this clean, well-kept Little Sigiriya. There is a major lake a kilometre away. It is a very interesting site, with lots to see, and amazing views. It needs more publicity/promotion and more interested visitors. Sri Lanka at its best.