Dambulla is among the most incredible cities in Sri Lanka with numerous sights to see, from historical sites to a wonderful wildlife sanctuary. It is situated in the Matale District, and is famous for being a great area for vegetables. Also, among the most intriguing natural features here is the largest rose quartz mountain range in South Asia. However the town is most famous for one of the best-preserved cave temple complexes in Sri Lanka. It is also unique for being one of the most incredible UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Sri Lanka like that other famous rock, Sigiriya. The rock is smaller than Sigiriya, about 160 meters above the surrounding landscape.  Plus, the former is located about 19 kilometers away.

Dambulla Cave Temple

This World Heritage Site is one of the foremost centers of Buddhist pilgrimage as well as one of the largest cave temple complexes in South Asia. It is a major attraction for tourists and locals, who flock to see the dazzling and numerous rocks and wall paintings of Lord Buddha.

One of the most unique sights to see at Dambulla is the great flight of swallows that come back to the caves every day at sunset. It is a known fact that swallows are birds that spend almost their entire day on the wing, only landing to sleep or nest. They are narrow-winged insectivores. Caves are well-known nesting sites for swallows and their smaller relatives, the aptly-named swifts.

There are about eighty caves in the vicinity but the temple complex does not constitute the whole area. Only five caves are known to have any of the trappings of a Buddhist temple. However unlike Sigirya which was once a monastery, Dambulla kept being a religious institute for much of Sri Lankan history. However its usage has been documented since prehistoric times, especially in the nearby Ibbankatuwa burial grounds. It has been a temple complex though, since the 3rd to the 2nd Centuries BC and it has been among the largest and best-preserved ancient monastic complexes in Sri Lanka. This area constitutes the Dambulla Cave Monastery.

The Origin of the Cave Temple

It was in the 1st Century BC that work on the actual temple began. Under the patronage of Valagamba of Anuradhapura. His was a time of turmoil with the country in the grip of South Indian invaders, from the ancient Tamil kingdom of Pandya. He was in hiding in the Dambulla area for fifteen years when he began work on developing the monastery into a proper temple complex.

It has been worked on many times after, even right into 1938, when the final embellishments were done on the architecture of the monastery, with beautiful arches and gables. Also, among the 153 Buddha images present, about 70 were added under the patronage of King Nissankamalla during the start of the 12th Century AD. He is also responsible for sponsoring the gilding of the caves.

The most famous of these five caves is also the biggest. It is the well-named Maharaja Lena or Cave of the Great Kings. This cave is a massive 52 meters long by 23 meters wide from its entrance to the back wall and about 7 meters tall. It is not the largest cave in the island by far of course. The statues here include the local guardian deity Lord Saman, as well as the god Vishnu, a salient feature of borh Hindu and Buddhist culture. But the largest statue here is the fifteen-meter long reclining Buddha in the Devaraja Lena. One of the other large statues is the gilded seated Buddha at the entrance of the Golden Temple. Actually a far more recent addition to an already magnificent complex.

The Golden Temple and the stupas around it are incredible works of modern Buddhist architecture, combining a variety of styles in between.

Other Places to visit in Dambulla

The Hiriwadunna Trek is an ideal way to experience village life. It is essentially a short hike through a little village, the romanticized Sri Lankan countryside archetype and nothing more. However for one who wishes to live off the land, it is a wonderful way to explore the rural lifestyle and especially, to get some fresh produce at the source itself.

As for the other attractions in the area, there is the famous Minneriya National Park, known for its elephant herds. Minneriya is centered around the ancient reservoir of Minneriya, dating back to the Anuradhapura era and this irrigation scheme was the largest of its kind back in the 3rd Century AD. It is thanks to this scheme that much of the land here-most scrub forest beset by deciduous forest.

Popham’s Arboretum

Another forest attraction close to Dambulla city is Popham’s Arboretum. Although one must know how to ask one’s way around the territory. Popham’s is not well-known in name, but when one uses the name, “Suddhage Wattha”. Then one is directed to a beautiful dry evergreen forest. It is kept clear of shrubbery and understory-level vegetation. The whole arboretum was originally for just 7.5 acres, created by the British planter F.H. (Sam) Popham about four decades ago. It is the only arboretum in this part of the country, the so- called Dry Zone.

The clearing of the undergrowth does not affect the absence of animals and neither does it affect the trees themselves. Some of the scrubland fauna that have adapted to this artificial environment include the chevrotain, or mouse deer and the chital. Also, bronze-winged pigeons are found here as are grey hornbills. The Ceylon junglefowl, the national bird of Sri Lanka, is also found in this scrubland. Some of the trees found here are ebony, palu and satinwood. All of which are important in the timber industry or at least ebony and satinwood are. Palu on the other hand, produces yellow berries that are favored by sloth bears and elephants. The bungalow here was made by Bawa himself, king of the Sri Lankan architects and Popham lived here for ten years.

Written by Vasika Udurawane for Travel Lanka Compass