The Cave Temples of Dambulla has been declared a world heritage site.
Distance from Colombo 148 km ; Typical Weather: Warm & Sunny
Dambulla or the Golden Rock is a cave temple, which dates back to
the 1st century BC. Complex of Buddhist image houses containing
Buddhist wall and ceiling painting and sculpture with its origin going
back to the Anuradhapura period.
Its rock ceiling is one large sweep of colorful frescoes, which
depicts Buddhist mythology, and the tales of the Buddha's previous
births. Within the cave temple is the collection of the largest number
of Buddha statues in one place.
Dambulla is a vast isolated rock mass and it was here that King
Valagam Bahu took refuge in the 1st century B.C. He later turned the
caves into a rock temple. Some of the frescoes are over 2,000 years old
and there is a colossal figure of the recumbent Buddha carved out of
the living rock, some 14 meter long.
