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Dambulla Heritage site

The cave shrines of Dambulla dating back to pre-Christian era are well known for the well-preserved Buddhist murals of the 18 th century. Being one of the largest cave shrines of South Asia, the five caves cover more than 2000sq. meters of paintings of the late medieval style popularly known as Kandyan art.The exhausting hill climb of the visitors will be richly rewarded by a visit to the newly established Museum of Paintings.

Ibbankatuwa, a Proto-historic site on the Dambulla –Kurunagala Road, comes under the excavation programme of Dambulla Project and attract many tourists

The largest cave temple of Sri Lanka , Dambulla has a history going back to pre-Christian times, as indicated by the cave inscriptions. The caves have gained international renown for murals depicting the life incidents and Jatakas of the Buddha as well as some historical incidents. The paintings drawn in the well known sittara style range between the 18th and early 19th centuries. The Painting Museum established by the Central Cultural Fund located by the main Dambulla-Habarana road, is an added attraction to this site.

 

The Paintings of Dambulla belongs to the Tempera Technique. The caves together with the rock ceilings are covered with paintings.

 

• Peripheral sites

The well known Proto-historic site at Ibbankatuva not far from Dambulla on the Dambulla-Kurunegala Road , showing a cemetry after excavation by the CCF.

 

The stone Buddhist image house (8th century AC) at Nalanda, Matale, is the single monument of this type constructed in crystaline limestone. The shrine, though Buddhist, simulates the Hindu shrine called Dharmarajaratha in Mahabalipuram. The ruins were resurrected from inundation due to Mahaveli hydro-electric scheme. The edifice is now raized to a height of 25 ft. from the original level. The site remains a great cynosure of tourists..

 

Dambulla is a part of the Cultural Triangle declared by UNESCO is on the main road from Sigiriya to Kandy about 19Km from Sigiriya. There are over 80 caves in the surrounding and some of them have been used by the monks as meditation locations. Major attractions are spread over 5 caves, which contain the statues and the paintings. Since it's founding in the 1 century BC by King Valagamba, many improvements and additions have been carried out to the sculptures and paintings over the years. Hindu statues are believed to be of the 12 century AD and the latest paintings are of the late 18-century. The temple is a perfect location to view evolution of the ancient Sri Lankan arts. Dambulla is a unique and important historical site because of the amalgamation of the material from many eras.Dambulla, Golden Temple, Hotels, Bed and Breakfast Providers, Shopping, Restaurants, Adventures, Hill Country, Wild Life, Eco Tourism, Guides, Taxies,Events, Cave Temple, image houses, Buddha Statues, painted walls and ceilings, world heritage site, Bird watching, Iron wood forest , Rose Quartz Mountain, meditation locations, King Walagamba, Hindu statues, Namal Uyana, garden, UNESCO, World Heritage City