Dambulla

Dambulla.
Dambulla The Golden Rock Temple
Rajamaha Temple of Rangiri Dambulla (Golden Rock Temple) Located north of Kandy and considered by most to be the centre point of Sri Lanka. Dambulla is a town built around a vast isolated rock mass and a World Heritage City, declared by UNESCO.
The name Dambulla derives from Damba - Rock and Ulla - fountain. One sees the incessant drip of water from the fountain within the main image house.
This complex of caves at Dambulla is one of the most impressive Buddhist Temples in the world. It was here that King Vattagamini Abhaya (Valagamba) took refuge in the 1st century BCE. He later turned the caves into a rock temple. Later kings made further improvements, including King Nissanka Malla who had the temple interior gilded, earning it the name of Ran Giri - Golden Rock.
Dambulla Viharaya contains an abundance of valuable material from the very earliest times till the late eighteenth century, and shows the evolution of the Singhalese Buddhist art. Such vast material in one place, combined with a long history, is a rare find anywhere.
The temples contain 153 Buddha images, 3 images of kings and 4 images of gods and goddesses. There are also 4 main monasteries and it was within this complex that the monks began the militant nationalist movement against the British in 1848.
Dambulla Caves
These 80 or more caves tell of the inhabitants dating back to the 3rd Century BCE. Five main caves hold the holy Buddhist shrines. The stupa was built in the 5th century AD and the caves contain precious paintings and innumerable Buddha sculptures. Among the paintings, two of the most magnificent depict the temptation of the Buddha by the demon Mara and the First Sermon of the Buddha.
“And there, very far away, over the unchanging surface, rises in the distance a long red bulk of rock, looking like a big pebble posed high on the surface of the tide. Rounded it is like shingle of the sea, and utterly alien from all the sharp craggy lines and pinnacles in which the islands of mountain break from the forest-levels. Now on its face, turned scarlet and golden in the sunset, above the hot golden-green of the illumined jungle, the eye can discern a line of white and ochre, raw-looking and artificial, as if the mass had been broken from its pedestal and then cemented on again. The red rock is Sigiriya, and the raw line marks the gallery of Kasyapa the King by which he would go up to the tremendous citadel, where he took refuge from his terrors.”

There is no doubt that the view from Dambulla is one of the very best to be had in the island. Of course the view from Sigiriya is substantially the same, except the Kandyan Mountains are more remote. There is a lot to commend the view from the rock of Mulkirigala down south near Matara. And many swear by the view from the peak of Namunukula near Badulla in the hills. But there really is something special about Dambulla. Make sure you don’t miss it.