Dambulla Cave Temples
Dambulla, Central Province, Sri Lanka
Five cave temples in a Sri Lankan rock overhang holding more than 150 Buddha statues and two millennia of murals, an actively worshipped monastery and UNESCO World Heritage site.
King Valagamba took refuge in these caves in the first century BCE, and on his return had them converted into temple caves; five caves now hold more than 150 Buddha statues and murals spanning the Anuradhapura to Kandyan periods, with the largest, Devaraja Viharaya, holding a 14-meter reclining Buddha. The Golden Temple of Dambulla was inscribed by UNESCO in 1991, and the monastery above the caves remains active, monks in residence and devotees climbing the rock for poya-day observance and daily veneration.
Visiting
Ticketed: foreign adult around USD 10 / Rs 3,320 per 2026 reporting (verify against the Central Cultural Fund); roughly a 15-minute climb; no shoes at the cave shrines; modest dress; hours roughly 9am to 6pm.
Photo: The Mucalinda sheltering Buddha, [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mucalinda_in_Dambulla_cave_temple_(2015).jpg), CC BY-SA 4.0, Pierre Andre Leclercq.
Associated traditions & practices
Visitor stories