The Lion Gate entrance to Sigiriya rock fortress, with massive carved lion paws flanking the staircase on either side.
The Lion Gate. The full lion figure — brick and plaster, large enough that its open jaws formed the entrance to the summit staircase — is gone. What's left are the paws, each several meters across, flanking the stairs on either side. They're more affecting in ruin than most monuments are intact. © Himam123, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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