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Dambulla
Cave
Temple
(also
known
as
the
Golden
Temple
of
Dambulla)
is a
world
heritage
site
(1991)
in
Sri
Lanka,
situated
in
the
central
part
of
the
country.
This
site
is
situated
148
km
east
of
Colombo
and
72
km
north
of
Kandy.
It
is
the
largest
and
best-preserved
cave
temple
complex
in
Sri
Lanka.
The
rock
towers
160
m
over
the
surrounding
plains.There
are
more
than
80
documented
caves
in
the
surrounding.
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Major
attractions
are
spread
over
5
caves,
which
contain
statues
and
paintings.
This
paintings
and
statues
are
related
to
Lord
Buddha
and
his
life.
There
are
total
of
153
Buddha
statues,
3
statues
of
Sri
Lankan
kings
and
4
statues
of
gods
and
goddesses.
The
later
4
include
two
statues
of
Hindu
gods,
god
Vishnu
and
god
Ganesh.
The
murals,
covers
an
area
of
2,100
square
meters.
Depictions
on
the
walls
of
the
caves
include
Buddha's
temptation
by
Mara
(demon)
and
Buddha's
first
sermon. |
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Prehistoric
Sri
Lankans
would
have
lived
in
these
cave
complexes
before
the
arrival
of
Buddhism
in
Sri
Lanka
as
there
are
burial
sites
with
human
skeletons
about
2700
years
old
(
700
BC)
which
have
been
unearthed
in
this
area
at
Ibbankatuwa
near
Dambulla
cave
complexes. |
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