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Dambulla cave temple
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How it came to be
The Dambulla cave temple lies beneath a rock that rises 160 m above the plains of central Sri Lanka. Forest monks have lived in the caves since the 3rd century BCE, and the site has drawn pilgrims for 22 centuries. Tradition holds that King Valagamba, driven from Anuradhapura in the 1st century BCE, hid here and built a temple after regaining his throne.
Later kings added to it, and by the 11th century it was a major religious centre. In 1190 King Nissanka Malla of Polonnaruwa gilded the caves and added statues. In the 18th century the Kingdom of Kandy restored and repainted them, giving the shrines their present form.
The five caves hold more than 150 statues, and their murals cover 2,100 square metres. In the first cave a Buddha 14 m long, cut from the rock, lies on his side. The temple was inscribed in 1991 and is still a working monastery.
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