Sigiriya was gradually abandoned except for parts that were used as a Buddhist monastery. Nonetheless, medieval tourists would keep visiting the site for centuries, especially to admire the paintings of bare-breasted damsels that adorn a cave shelter halfway up the rock. These tourists expressed their admiration in graffiti love poems that can still be read. Here are some examples:10 Lovely this lady Excellent the painter And when I look At hand and eye I do believe she lives We spoke But they did not answer Those lovely ladies of the mountain They did not give us Even the twitch of an eye-lid
...more
