Dambulla cave temple which is in Central province of Sri Lanka. Dambulla is a part of the Cultural Triangle declared by UNESCO, it lies on the main road from Sigiriya to Kandy, which is around 19 kilometers from Sigiriya. Dambula temple with its five sanctuaries is the best-preserved cave-temple in Sri Lanka. The Buddhist mural paintings covering about 2,100 m2 and there are more than 157 statues of Buddha. The temples contain 153 Buddha images, 3 images of kings and 4 images of gods and goddesses.

Dambulla history

Region of Dambulla was inhabited already in seventh century before Christ. The oldest preserved frescoes, are before Christ. Frescoes were subsequently restored in eleventh, twelve and eighteenth century in the year of our Lord.

In fourteenth banishment period of king Valagamba the caves were under protection of Buddhist monks. When the king came back, he built Buddhist temples for gratitude. The most preserved is the complex of five temples in Sri Lanka. In this complex are a lot of statues, and they have preserved almost all frescoes.