The Dambulla Cave Temple is the best-preserved and largest cave-temple complex in Sri Lanka. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in 1991.
In the southern part of Dambulla city stands a massive rock mountain. Climbing more than 300 steps, you will see a huge boulder. At its base lies a long white corridor with several archways in the middle.
Passing through these gates leads you to the pinnacle of Sri Lanka’s cave art—the Dambulla Cave Temple.
The history of the Dambulla Cave Temple can be traced back to the 1st century BCE. According to legend, when southern India invaded Sri Lanka, King Valagamba was exiled from Anuradhapura and took refuge here under the protection of local monks. After regaining his throne, he commissioned the excavation of the royal caves at this site. It took two generations for the complex to reach the scale we see today.
This ancient temple consists of five main caves, featuring murals covering an area of 2,100 square meters and 157 statues, making it of great religious and artistic value. Throughout the centuries, it has continued to showcase the splendor of Buddhist art to pilgrims.
Cave of the Divine King: Inside the cave lies a 14-meter-long reclining Buddha, carved from a single rock—the largest statue in the entire temple complex. At the Buddha’s feet stands his disciple, Venerable Ananda, while above the Buddha’s head is a statue of Vishnu. Behind the reclining Buddha and above his head are exquisite murals depicting scenes of the Buddha’s meditation and teachings.
Cave of the Great Kings: This is the largest and most magnificent of the five caves, containing sixteen standing Buddhas and forty seated Buddhas, along with two Hindu deities and two statues of kings. The ceiling is adorned with continuous murals. Over the past two thousand years, these murals and statues have been regularly supplemented, restored, and gilded, which is why they have been so well preserved to this day. Inside the cave, there is also a stupa and a water collection vessel. From a crack in the rock layer above the vessel, water droplets have continuously dripped down through the centuries, collected for use in religious rituals.
Great New Monastery: Inside this cave are fifty carved Buddha statues and statues of kings who revived Buddhism in the 17th century. The murals are painted in the typical 17th-century Ceylonese style.
The fourth cave is relatively small, containing a few Buddha statues and a stupa. The fifth cave was once used as a storage room and meditation hall.
Walking along the white corridor of the Dambulla Cave Temple, passing from one cave to another, visitors can glimpse the stories hidden within the ancient murals and witness the evolution of Buddhist culture on the island of Sri Lanka.
