Dambulla

Dambulla city Sri Lanka enjoys a unique position on the world tourists’ itinerary especially for its renowned Golden Temple Dambulla. The origin of the city is credited to King Valagamba in the 1st century B.C. Ever since then the city has seen many developments and many additions have been carried out on the sculptures and paintings over the years. The city has over 80 caves situated around the city and its surroundings. Many of them have been used by monks as meditation places. Dambulla city Sri Lanka is a part of the Cultural Triangle which had been declared as such by UNESCO and located at about 19 km from Sigiriya.  The Hindu statues located here are of the 12th century AD and paintings from the late 18th century.

The Golden Temple Dambulla is said to date back to the first century BC. The caves of Dambulla have a history of sheltering the king during his 14 years of exile from Anuradhapura. On regaining the throne, he caused the most magnificent of rock temples of the island to be built. One can get an excellent breathtaking view atop the 350 ft. rock. Here one will find a series of five caves which have been turned into shrines. In the first cave one will find a recumbent image of the Buddha which is 47 feet long, cut out of the rock. There are many images of deities associated with Buddhism.

The frescoes on the walls and ceiling are supposedly dated from the 15th – 18th centuries. The second cave houses the finest 150 life-size statues of Gods. One will also see numerous images of the Buddha as well. The ceiling is covered with frescoes which depict great events in the life of the Buddha and events from the history of the Sinhalese people. The Golden Temple Dambulla remains a sacred pilgrimage place for now over 22 centuries and the cave with its five sanctuaries is the largest, best preserved cave temple complex in Sri Lanka.