Buddhism runs deep in Sri Lanka, there are more Buddhist temples on this island than anywhere else that I have seen or read about.
Besides the temples, on street corners and main junctions everywhere, it is not unusual either to see a shrine, sometimes almost unnoticeable small, sometimes magnificent and breath-taking on a hill. I did come across some young monks in their orange saffron robes as it makes them stand out from the crowd.
We stayed in Dambulla, Nice Place hotel , just tucked away from the main street.
Day 2 of our trip suppose to be continued from Sigiriya Rock Fortress, which at one point of time in history was also a monastery site, heading towards Dambulla famous cave temple before travelling further south to Kandy, home to the country’s most important shrine, the Temple of the Tooth.
But let’s not get too far ahead. Dambulla cave temple was postponed from the Day 2 trip because we were tired of steps. After Sirigiya, I became very phobia of steps, the ancients steps are not easy to climb as each blocks are at different heights.
First, we’ll take a peek at the cave temples.
Dambulla on its own is a small dusty town. The cave temple is located a couple of kilometres south of Dambulla. The Golden Temple has a gigantic golden (of course) Buddha, seated cross legged. It would be hard to miss, given that the Golden Temple lies at the bottom of the steps leading to the temples. So by no chances anyone could miss to see the Golden Temple on their way in Sirigiya.
We started very early to the famous Dambulla cave temple. On the top of the rock hill is a giant ancient cave monastery which is the main attraction of the city.
When I entered the compound of the temple, I saw a huge stupa and a Golden Buddha at the base before temple climb. I needed to get our tickets for the Cave which cost us LKR 1500 and after purchasing the tickets, we proceeded with our climb.
It was a hot sunny day and it was uncomfortable to walk, too sweaty and thirsty. The walk up itself was rather steep; there is a steep paved walkway and also stairs up to the cave. I opted for the paved walkway. The walk up was beautiful, shady and cool from the burning sunlight.
Along the walk, I was distracted by the monkeys! There were so many of them along the path, jumping from one rock surface to another. They were indeed not troubling nor disturbing us. They were helping each another picking fleas as they were watching us walk by.
There was a monkey family posing to take pictures and there was a few day old, young monkey playing around with the older ones, it was so cute and adorable. Indeed they were not afraid of the tourist, they were too friendly. I guess they have very well understood the humans to be friendly with them to get something indeed in return, Food….!!!
The monkeys were not disturbing us; instead we had the traders blocking our way trying to sell some antique ornaments, statues, unpolished gem stones and souvenirs. Bargaining for a price you and if you ignore them.
Damn! You still to come across of them when you head downwards later. They will make sure you really get something from them later.
As soon I reached the top of the rock, I had to remove my shoes and left the shoes guarded for Rs50 per pair. Argh! It was so hot and I had to walk on the hot stones bare footed for first few metres till I reached the shaded corridor that leads to the entrance of the caves.
Before, I enter to the cave, at this point the tickets were checked. If you were to be one of those few who have just walked all the way up without a ticket, then it’s a good luck to you as you would need to go back downhill to secure a ticket before even you want to enter the cave. I guess they should also have a ticket counter up there which would be easier. Because the ticket counter is not quite visible instead you need to walk into an office at the building below the Golden Buddha.
As I entered, I could see the huge rock aligned with the caves and each cave had its own entrance as the real treats lies hidden within it. I enter to the first cavern and I was astounded by the array of statues that line the cave walls. The lightings were dimmed to protect the relics to retain the original colours.
There are five cave temples altogether, as they are numbered from 1 to 5. The one immediately adjacent to the entrance is cave 1 and the furthest away being cave 5 the smallest. The history of the cave dates back to the 2nd or maybe even to the 1st century.
Cave 1 is the first shrine from the main entrance, known as “Dev Raja Viharaya”. A narrow room with a giant sleeping Buddha statue with some nice paintings on the walls and ceilings as the intricacy of the wall paintings were astounding. Even though the statue inside the room is 45 Ft. long the room was still a fairly small room compared to the much bigger cave next door which I will head to next.
Cave 2 was a big cave; there were many statues of Buddha in various positions, postures and in different sizes. The cave was undoubtedly dark in the interior, and the “moon lighting's” installed which didn't really help in most part of the cave corners. I could smell the century old moist dry air inside the cave. I felt as I just stepped into time-tunnel cave.
At the right of the entrance there was a “Stupa” about eighteen feet in height with four figures of Buddha, facing the four quarters. Each one of the statues had a snake hood over their head. This is the first time I have seen a Buddha statue with a snake.
The ceiling and the walls of the caves were completely covered with paintings and frescoes astoundingly beautiful. The natural unevenness of the rock looks like a painted cloth hanged across the ceiling. The frescoes and murals illustrate the important events in the history. The caves were also filled with many other statues of Buddha, Saman(Sumana) and Hindu deities, most notably were Vishnu and Katargama Murugan.
Cave 3 is the second largest cave which is larger and grander in that temple complex. The cave’s surface is painted in rich colours and highly ornamented with murals and frescoes depict events in Buddhist history, and the life of Buddha. There is another sleeping Buddha and other Buddha statues in different postures and poses.
Cave 4 had a meditative Buddha and is followed by few of same sized statues aligned together at the sides. It also had some paintings and frescoes on the walls and ceilings.
Cave 5 was the smallest cave with a meditative Buddha and few other small statues.
By the way, between Cave 2 and 3 alone, there were about a hundred statues and all those frescoes on the ceilings and walls were amazingly beautiful and have been maintained well for all these years. It really tells us the history and the uniqueness of the paintings.
After visiting all those caves, I felt a little fatigue of too many statues in a day. It was time to leave; the sun wasn't favouring us much as the paved paths in the temple complex were very hot to step. We were perpetually hopped and jumped to get our shoes at the entrance.
We got our shoes ascended the rock, we took the paved route down which was much easier and faster. We came across of some cheeky monkeys along the way and the traders haunting us to get something which didn't happen earlier.
We stopped for a local ice cream; my sister couldn't finish hers so I gave her ice-cream to a monkey that was anxiously waiting for one. I offered the ice-cream and it gently took it from my hand. I stood as I watched it enjoying its cool treat from the blazing sun.
It was time again to hit the road as we were heading to Kandy, which would be couple of hours of drive. We would stop over at the Spice Garden at Matale on the way for a visit and lunch.
Day 2 : The Majestic Fortress
Besides the temples, on street corners and main junctions everywhere, it is not unusual either to see a shrine, sometimes almost unnoticeable small, sometimes magnificent and breath-taking on a hill. I did come across some young monks in their orange saffron robes as it makes them stand out from the crowd.
We stayed in Dambulla, Nice Place hotel , just tucked away from the main street.
Day 2 of our trip suppose to be continued from Sigiriya Rock Fortress, which at one point of time in history was also a monastery site, heading towards Dambulla famous cave temple before travelling further south to Kandy, home to the country’s most important shrine, the Temple of the Tooth.
But let’s not get too far ahead. Dambulla cave temple was postponed from the Day 2 trip because we were tired of steps. After Sirigiya, I became very phobia of steps, the ancients steps are not easy to climb as each blocks are at different heights.
First, we’ll take a peek at the cave temples.
Dambulla on its own is a small dusty town. The cave temple is located a couple of kilometres south of Dambulla. The Golden Temple has a gigantic golden (of course) Buddha, seated cross legged. It would be hard to miss, given that the Golden Temple lies at the bottom of the steps leading to the temples. So by no chances anyone could miss to see the Golden Temple on their way in Sirigiya.
We started very early to the famous Dambulla cave temple. On the top of the rock hill is a giant ancient cave monastery which is the main attraction of the city.
When I entered the compound of the temple, I saw a huge stupa and a Golden Buddha at the base before temple climb. I needed to get our tickets for the Cave which cost us LKR 1500 and after purchasing the tickets, we proceeded with our climb.
It was a hot sunny day and it was uncomfortable to walk, too sweaty and thirsty. The walk up itself was rather steep; there is a steep paved walkway and also stairs up to the cave. I opted for the paved walkway. The walk up was beautiful, shady and cool from the burning sunlight.
Along the walk, I was distracted by the monkeys! There were so many of them along the path, jumping from one rock surface to another. They were indeed not troubling nor disturbing us. They were helping each another picking fleas as they were watching us walk by.
There was a monkey family posing to take pictures and there was a few day old, young monkey playing around with the older ones, it was so cute and adorable. Indeed they were not afraid of the tourist, they were too friendly. I guess they have very well understood the humans to be friendly with them to get something indeed in return, Food….!!!
The monkeys were not disturbing us; instead we had the traders blocking our way trying to sell some antique ornaments, statues, unpolished gem stones and souvenirs. Bargaining for a price you and if you ignore them.
Damn! You still to come across of them when you head downwards later. They will make sure you really get something from them later.
As soon I reached the top of the rock, I had to remove my shoes and left the shoes guarded for Rs50 per pair. Argh! It was so hot and I had to walk on the hot stones bare footed for first few metres till I reached the shaded corridor that leads to the entrance of the caves.
Before, I enter to the cave, at this point the tickets were checked. If you were to be one of those few who have just walked all the way up without a ticket, then it’s a good luck to you as you would need to go back downhill to secure a ticket before even you want to enter the cave. I guess they should also have a ticket counter up there which would be easier. Because the ticket counter is not quite visible instead you need to walk into an office at the building below the Golden Buddha.
As I entered, I could see the huge rock aligned with the caves and each cave had its own entrance as the real treats lies hidden within it. I enter to the first cavern and I was astounded by the array of statues that line the cave walls. The lightings were dimmed to protect the relics to retain the original colours.
There are five cave temples altogether, as they are numbered from 1 to 5. The one immediately adjacent to the entrance is cave 1 and the furthest away being cave 5 the smallest. The history of the cave dates back to the 2nd or maybe even to the 1st century.
Cave 1 is the first shrine from the main entrance, known as “Dev Raja Viharaya”. A narrow room with a giant sleeping Buddha statue with some nice paintings on the walls and ceilings as the intricacy of the wall paintings were astounding. Even though the statue inside the room is 45 Ft. long the room was still a fairly small room compared to the much bigger cave next door which I will head to next.
Cave 2 was a big cave; there were many statues of Buddha in various positions, postures and in different sizes. The cave was undoubtedly dark in the interior, and the “moon lighting's” installed which didn't really help in most part of the cave corners. I could smell the century old moist dry air inside the cave. I felt as I just stepped into time-tunnel cave.
At the right of the entrance there was a “Stupa” about eighteen feet in height with four figures of Buddha, facing the four quarters. Each one of the statues had a snake hood over their head. This is the first time I have seen a Buddha statue with a snake.
Cave 3 is the second largest cave which is larger and grander in that temple complex. The cave’s surface is painted in rich colours and highly ornamented with murals and frescoes depict events in Buddhist history, and the life of Buddha. There is another sleeping Buddha and other Buddha statues in different postures and poses.
Cave 4 had a meditative Buddha and is followed by few of same sized statues aligned together at the sides. It also had some paintings and frescoes on the walls and ceilings.
Cave 5 was the smallest cave with a meditative Buddha and few other small statues.
By the way, between Cave 2 and 3 alone, there were about a hundred statues and all those frescoes on the ceilings and walls were amazingly beautiful and have been maintained well for all these years. It really tells us the history and the uniqueness of the paintings.
After visiting all those caves, I felt a little fatigue of too many statues in a day. It was time to leave; the sun wasn't favouring us much as the paved paths in the temple complex were very hot to step. We were perpetually hopped and jumped to get our shoes at the entrance.
We got our shoes ascended the rock, we took the paved route down which was much easier and faster. We came across of some cheeky monkeys along the way and the traders haunting us to get something which didn't happen earlier.
We stopped for a local ice cream; my sister couldn't finish hers so I gave her ice-cream to a monkey that was anxiously waiting for one. I offered the ice-cream and it gently took it from my hand. I stood as I watched it enjoying its cool treat from the blazing sun.
It was time again to hit the road as we were heading to Kandy, which would be couple of hours of drive. We would stop over at the Spice Garden at Matale on the way for a visit and lunch.
Day 2 : The Majestic Fortress
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