Dambulla 

Dambulla is a small village in north central Sri Lanka.  It is most famous for a series of rock-cut caves containing statues and paintings.  The site dates back to the first century BCE, but the paintings are between two and five hundred years old.  This picture shows part of the monastery surrounding the caves, with the caves under the rock in the background. 

 
Here's one of the images in the first cave.  I don't have a strong sense of who they are, but they look like ascetics.

 
This picture looks like a king.

 

This is the head of a Buddha-image cut out of the solid rock when the cave was being excavated.  The entire image is 47 feet long.  This shows the Buddha on his right side (on which he is tradionally portrayed as resting) and may be an image of the parinirvana, that is, the demise of the Buddha's physical body. 

 

This image shows a sitting Buddha in the meditation posture, with some attendant deities.  I can't read what the sign says, but I guarantee that it does NOT say "please don't photograph this." 
 

Click here for an image of the second cave, which has multiple Golden Buddhas, and here for a link to a site with some further historical information (and ads for Viagra!).

 

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Last modified 27 December 2005