This temple complex dates back to the 1st century BC. It has five caves under a vast overhanging rock, carved with a drip line to keep the interiors dry. In 1938 the architecture was embellished with arched colonnades and gabled entrances. Inside the caves, the ceilings are painted with intricate patterns of religious images following the contours of the rock. There are images of the Lord Buddha and bodhisattvas, as well as various gods and goddesses.
The Golden Temple is in front of the Cave Temple. To see the cave temple you must first climb this huge rock, as well as a few stairs.. Once you make it to the top there are many entrances to different caves. There were huge Buddha reliefs carved from the rock, and all of the rooms are filled with so much Buddha it was amazing.
Fun fact that I did not know.. you are not allowed to take pictures in front of Buddha with your back turned to him. It is extremely disrespectful and forbidden!
if you look close I’m kissing a frog!
Now that’s a Stupa!
After you return back down the massive rock from the cave temples, you can stop into the Golden Buddha Temple. Which has .. you guessed it!!! tons of more Buddha 🙂
The Golden Temple of Dambulla
These are lotus flowers made from fabrics. I have been looking for a YouTube video to learn how to make one, but I have not been successful. If anyone knows how to make one please tell me!
Sigiriya
planning out where we can go when we return !
At this point in the trip Phil said, “I’m Buddha-ed out!”
I agreed I have seen enough Buddhas to last me a lifetime.. but on our last and final day, (yes this trip was only 3 days and it took me a million posts to show you everything we did in those three days), we saw our favorite Buddha. We returned back to Kandy after the heritage triangle. In Kandy there was a large Buddha high up illuminating the hills at night. I told our driver friend that I must see that Buddha before we leave for the south. On day 3 we visited that Buddha, drove South to Nuwara Eliya to see a real tea plantation and tea factory, and went white water rafting!
* We have invited friends on our future travels, but for some reason no one wants to travel with us… they think we are too productive on our trips… and that we would wear them out lol.. what us??
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