The Dambulla cave temple, also called the Golden Temple of Dambulla, is a World Heritage Site located in Sri Lanka. It is found in the central part of the country, 148 kilometers (92 miles) east of Colombo, 72 kilometers (45 miles) north of Kandy, and 43 kilometers (27 miles) north of Matale. This temple is the largest and best-preserved cave temple complex in Sri Lanka. The rock where the caves are located rises 160 meters (520 feet) above the surrounding area. More than 80 caves have been recorded in the area, but the main attractions are found in five caves. These caves contain statues and paintings that show Gautama Buddha and events from his life. There are 153 statues of Buddha, three statues of Sri Lankan kings, and four statues of gods and goddesses, including Vishnu and Ganesha. The murals cover an area of 2,100 square meters (23,000 square feet). The walls of the caves show scenes like the demon Mara trying to tempt Buddha and Buddha giving his first sermon. Before Buddhism arrived in Sri Lanka, prehistoric people lived in these caves. Evidence of this includes burial sites with human skeletons that are about 2,700 years old, located at Ibbankatuwa near the Dambulla caves.
History
This temple complex was built in the first century BCE. It has five caves under a large rock, with a carved line that helps keep the inside dry. In 1938, the structure was decorated with arched columns and entrances with triangular tops. Inside the caves, the ceilings are painted with detailed religious images that follow the shape of the rock. These images include the Lord Buddha, bodhisattvas, and other gods and goddesses.
The Dambulla cave monastery is still used today and is the best-preserved ancient building in Sri Lanka. This complex was created during the third and second centuries BCE and was already one of the largest and most important monasteries at that time. Valagamba of Anuradhapura is believed to have turned the caves into a temple in the first century BCE. After being forced to leave Anuradhapura, he lived in the caves for 15 years to escape enemies. When he regained his kingdom, he built a temple as a sign of gratitude. Later kings added to the site, and by the 11th century, the caves became a major religious center. In 1190, King Nissanka Malla of Polonnaruwa covered the caves with gold and placed about 70 Buddha statues inside. During the 18th century, the Kingdom of Kandy restored and painted the caves.
The five caves
The temple has five caves of different sizes and beauty. These caves were built at the base of a 150-meter-high rock during the Anuradhapura period (1st century BC to 993 AD) and the Polonnaruwa period (1073 to 1250). These caves are among the most impressive cave temples in Sri Lanka. You can reach them by walking up the gentle slope of Dambulla Rock, which offers a wide view of the flat land around it, including the rock fortress Sigiriya, 19 kilometers away. At dusk, hundreds of swallows fly near the cave entrance. The largest cave is about 52 meters from east to west and 23 meters from the entrance to the back. It is 7 meters tall at its highest point. Inside, Hindu gods, King Valagamba, King Nissankamalla, and Ananda, who was the Buddha’s most devoted follower, are also shown.
The first cave is called Devaraja lena, which means "Cave of the Divine King" in Sinhalese. A 1st-century Brahmi inscription near the entrance describes how the monastery was founded. This cave has a 14-meter statue of the Buddha carved from the rock. The statue has been painted many times over the years and was likely painted in the 20th century. At the Buddha’s feet is Ananda, his favorite student, and at his head is Vishnu, a god said to have created the caves with divine powers.
The second and largest cave has 16 standing and 40 seated statues of the Buddha. It also includes statues of the gods Saman and Vishnu, which pilgrims often decorate with garlands. This cave also has statues of King Vattagamani Abhaya, who honored the monastery in the 1st century BC, and King Nissanka Malla, who gilded 50 statues in the 12th century, as noted by a stone inscription near the entrance. This cave is called Maharaja lena, meaning "Cave of the Great Kings." A Buddha statue carved from the rock on the left side of the room is accompanied by wooden figures of the Bodhisattvas Maitreya and Avalokiteshvara, or Natha. There is also a dagoba and a spring that drips water from a crack in the ceiling. This water is believed to have healing powers. Tempera paintings on the cave ceiling from the 18th century show scenes from the Buddha’s life, including the dream of Mahamaya and the temptation by the demon Mara. Other paintings depict important events in the country’s history.
The third cave, called Maha Alut Vihara, which means "Great New Monastery," has ceiling and wall paintings in the Kandy style. These were added during the reign of King Kirti Sri Rajasinha (1747–1782), a well-known Buddhist leader. This cave also has 50 statues of the Buddha and a statue of the king.
Statues
The shrine rooms show different time periods of Sinhala sculpture and art. The Buddha statues come in different sizes and poses, with the largest one being 15 meters long. One cave has more than 1,500 paintings of Buddha on its ceiling.
Conservation
Conservation efforts at the Dambulla Temple Complex have mainly focused on preserving its mural paintings. Senake Bandaranayake noted that the murals were cleaned during an early conservation project in the 1960s. This project also included applying a protective coating to the paintings.
After the 1960s, conservation work at the Dambulla Temple Complex (especially since 1982) has aimed to protect the existing structure, which has not changed since the temple veranda was rebuilt in the 1930s. This plan was developed through a joint project between UNESCO, the Cultural Triangle Project of Sri Lanka, and the Dambulla Temple Authorities from 1982 to 1996.
Because the Dambulla Temple is still used for religious ceremonies, the 1982–1996 project focused on improving the site’s infrastructure and access to meet its UNESCO World Heritage status. This included repairing hand-cut paving within the complex and adding modern lighting. Later improvements included building a museum and other tourist facilities outside the historical area.
In 2003, UNESCO inspections suggested expanding the protected area around the temple to better protect nearby archaeological sites.
The 1982–1996 conservation project mainly aimed to preserve the eighteenth-century mural paintings, which make up about 80% of the surviving artwork at Dambulla. By the late 1990s, most of these murals remained in excellent condition, with the larger shrines (Vihara 3 and Vihara 2) still showing most of their original eighteenth-century details.
No cleaning was done during the 1982–1996 project. Instead, the project focused on fixing problems to stabilize the murals and creating a long-term plan to reduce future damage from people or the environment.