Dambulla

7.851388888888980.654166666667Koordinaten: 7 ° 51 ' N, 80 ° 39' O

The city of Dambulla ( Sinhala දඹුල්ල ) is located in the Central Province of Sri Lanka, 148 km north-east of Colombo and 72 km north of Kandy. It has about 65,000 inhabitants.

Dambulla is famous for its Buddhist cave temples, for the largest rose quartz deposit in South Asia and Namal Uyana for (iron -wood forest ).

History

The area was settled in the 3rd century BC. Statues and paintings date back to the 1st century BC. The art works were renewed in the 11th, 12th and 18th centuries.

The caves were once King Valagamba ( Vattagamini Abhaya ) as the vanishing point of his 14 - year exile from Anuradhapura, when the city was occupied by the Indians. The monks of Dambulla sheltered him from his adversaries. As Valagamba was able to return to his throne, he built a great temple in gratitude for the help.

Cave Temple

There are 80 cave temples in Dambulla, five large. With an area of 2100 m², this is the largest temple complex in the country. In many temples are historical paintings and statues. In total there are 153 Buddha statues, three statues of kings, and four statues of gods. The latter are two Hindu gods ( Vishnu and Ganesh ), which originated in the 12th century. The paintings describe the life of Buddha, including Buddha's temptation by the demon Mara, and Buddha's first sermon.

The temples are under the name of " Golden Temple of Dambulla " since 1991 a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.