King Nissankamalla (1187 - 1196 AD) at the Chamber of the Royal Council sat on the ‘Lion Throne’ which is literarily a lion carved out of stone. In the Sinhala language, the seat occupied by the King is referred to as the ‘Sinhasanaya’, (a combination of the words ‘Sinha’ which is ‘lion’, and ‘Asanaya’ which is ‘seat’).