Dambulla Golden temple (Rangiri Dambulu Viharaya)
Dambulla Cave Temple is located in Dambulla town in Central Province of Sri Lanka. Dambulla is located 150 km away from the Colombo and approximately it will take 3.5 hours to reach Dambulla Cave Temple from the Colombo.
Dambulla Cave Temple is also known as Rangiri Dambulu Viharaya and Golden Temple of Dambulla. Dambulla is the largest and best-preserved cave temple complex in Sri Lanka.
The history of the temple goes up to the first century of BC. As per the historical records, King Walagamba in Anuradhapura kingdom (1 st century of BC) has converted this cave in to a temple. After that King Nissankamalla in Polonnaruwa (in 1190 AD) has added 70 Buddha statues and king Keerthi Sri Rajasinghe in Kandy kingdom (in 1750 AD) has renovated this temple by applying paintings.
This temple complex has five caves. There are lot of Statues (more than 150) and Paintings inside the caves. The cave temple is situated 160 m over the surrounding plains.
Currently Dambulla Cave Temple is identified as a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO, Since the largest and best preserved cave temple complex in Sri Lanka.
