Dambulla Things to Do

The fouth cave is one of the newest caves. It's called Pachima Viharaya and it's not regarded as anything spectacular but.... it turned out to be my favourite of all five caves. Together with the usual arrays of smaller and larger buddhas and hindu statues, there is a large recling buddha which is absolutely charming: look at its face - it's an image of joy and peacefulness. The frescos are very bright in this cave, and in general it gives you a joyful impression

The third cave, Maha Alut Vihara, is called the "Great New Monastery". The painting and frescos are very well preserved, especially because they are of more recent origin: they were painted during the reign of King Kirti Sri Rajasinha (1747-1782). There's also, besides the usual large Buddha and smaller Buddhas and Visnus, the statue of the king. The style is different from that of the other temples: this is pure Kandy style. I don't know how it's officially explained but for me it's a style of light - both in the sense of luminosity and in the sense of being deprived of weight. It's all very soft, very airy

The second cave is Maharajalena, the "Cave of the Great Kings." it's th largest of the five caves and it contains 56 statues of buddha, as well as other statues of the gods Saman and Visnu. Other statues are those of King Vattagamani, who visited the monastery in the first century B.C., and King Nissanka Malla who, in the 12th century, commissioned the gilding of 50 statues. In this cave, like in all other caves, there's a large reclining buddha statue: however its most eye-capturing "monument" is an old dagoba surrounded by six rock statues. From the ceiling waters drip, as if it were a spring: this water is supposed to have healing powers.

The first cave is called Devarajalena, or "Cave of the Divine King." The main element of the cave is a 14-metres rock statue of a reclining buddha. it's all brightly painted , but the best part is the sole of itsfeet, which is decorated with intricate patterns. Two more statues are of some importance: Ananda, the Buddha's favourite pupil, and Visnu, who is said to have created this natural cave.

The temple consists of 5 separate caves that are hewn from a big rock. The caves were originally used as hiding places. Later on in history they were embellished more and more by several kings. On the inside, the caves are decorated with religious and secular paintings from the 15th and 16th century.

The temple was added to Unesco's World Heritage List in 1991.

The entrance fee is 500 Rupees.

The uniqueness to this temple is that it possesses the foremost Buddha Statue of the World designed in the pose of Dhamma Chakka. The construction work of this magnificent statue was started in 1998 and made it completed by the year 2001. Just below the golden statue and environmental landscaping displays, a modern museum displays recent history of Sri Lankan buddhist culture.

When we were there, they were building the new entrance to the Caves. Not sure its my taste, but I am sure others will love it! The 30 meter high Buddha claims to be the highest of its kind in the world

There were just some steps alongside the new entrance to climb up to reach the temple when we visited.

The views from the front of the Dambulla Cave Temples are wonderful. Sweeping over the valley below towards other hilly area.

Sigiryia is only 22 km away and on a clear day it is possible to see the Rock Fortress