Historic sites

Sigiriya

Anuradhapura

Polonnaruwa

Dambulla

Kandy

Galle Fort

 

 

 

Golden Temple of Dambulla

The World Heritage site of the Golden Temple of Dambulla is located in the Matale District of the Central Province and is well known throughout the world for its beautiful cave paintings. This historic cave temple has its origins in the early 3rd – 2nd centuries BC as indicated by the Brahmi inscriptions on the rock but records give its founder as King Valagamba of the 1st century BC. During the Polonnaruwa period this was known as the ‘Swarnagiri Guna’ or Golden Rock Caves and various inscriptions of King Nissankamalla of the Polonnaruwa Kingdom states that he had built 73 golden statues of the Buddha and several stupas. After the fall of the Polonnaruwa Kingdom the temple continued to receive royal patronage from various subsequent rulers and the present condition of its paintings and sculptures are those of the Kandyan Kings of the 17th and 18th centuries.

The main cave of the temple is divided into 5 sub-caves, the Devaraja Lena, Maharaja Lena, Maha Aluthviharaya, Paschima Viharaya and the Devana Aluthviharaya with the latter being as recent as 1915. Cave paintings and statues adorn the ceilings of the caves with the most artistic of all caves being the Maharaja Lena or the Cave of the Great Kings; this cave consists of various standing, seated and reclining images of the Buddha, as well as those of other deities such as Natha, Maithri, Upulwan and Saman amounting to 60. This fascinating temple was made a World Heritage Site in 1991.