Steven and I had arrived in the Sri Lankan Ancient City of Dambulla a couple of days previously but hadn't yet explored any of the city's sights so we made sure to rectify that our last day in town. We wanted to visit the magnificent Buddhist statues and murals in the cave complex that, like our trips to the nearby hugely impressive Sigiriya and Polonnaruwa, was another UNESCO World Heritage site.
Every inch of wall space was covered with detailed frescoes. It would have taken hours to properly really "see" and appreciate each one.
Cave III was known as Maha Alut Viharaya or the New Great Temple was said to have been converted from a storeroom in the 18th century by one of the last Kandyan monarchs. Even though the previous cave was regarded as "the best" I was most struck with the cave art in this cave from the moment we entered. There was just such a sense of peace and awe at the workmanship and love that spilled over into the statues and artwork on every surface even though we weren't Buddhists.
Because two rival monastic groups had sadly been fighting over legal control of the caves, the ticket office was situated at a very inconvenient spot at the bottom of the hillside that led up to the temples. That meant hiking up 364 steps to reach the main temple complex! Steven and I like to think we're in pretty good shape but that was a helluva lot of steps and even worse in the intense heat and high humidity with almost no shade!
We took the time to rest a couple of times on the way up so we could admire the panoramic views over to the great rock temple at Sigiriya 20 kms away.
Historians believe Dambulla was a place of worship since the 1st century BC when King Valagamba, expelled from Anuradhapura, sought refuge here. When he retook the throne, the interior of the five caves was carved into magnificent rock temples. Subsequent Kandyan kings and royal patrons added to and embellished the Buddhist images. This process of retouching original and creating new artwork continued until the last century.
After finally reaching the top, taking a well-earned breather, and then removing our shoes and covering our legs, we entered the main entrance gate.
The gate opened up to a vast internal courtyard where we saw the first of the caves, all located under a towering rock. Thankfully, a long corridor provided some welcome shade and cool access to the caves after the long hike up the mountain.
It was customary for Sri Lankan worshippers to bring flowers when visiting temples.
The first cave, Devaraja Viharaya aka Temple of the King of the Gods, was famous for its 15m-long reclining Buddha. The flower offerings had been left by the Buddhist faithful in front of Ananda, the Buddha's loyal disciple.
There were a fantastic number of seated and standing statues depicted nearby and exquisite ceiling decorations. I overhead a guide indicate the right hand held up indicated a belief in non-violence.
We only just had time to marvel at the reclining Buddha and take a few photos before being ushered out of the cave!
You could almost forget walking along the long corridor that there were caves on the right-hand side because of the whitewashed walls in between the caves. See Steven wearing his very lightweight Brazilian beach coverup to cover his legs?!!
We had to wait a while while the second cave opened but the delay was well worth it. Maharaja Viharaya or Temple of the Great King was described as the most spectacular of the caves because of its two statues of kings and large size.
Thank goodness we knew to also look up in each cave as the ceiling frescoes were as impressive as the statues and wall art. The frescoes had been painted so exquisitely over the uneven cave ceiling they almost looked a piece of fabric had been draped above our heads. We had to wonder how the sublime images had been painted in an age without artificial light.
We knew it was respectful never to turn our back on an image of Buddha so we had to back up carefully so as not to bump into fellow tourists or the prayerful in each cave. That wasn't easy as there were so many Buddhas in each cave!
Once the crowds dispersed a bit, we were able to view the cave's main Buddha statue, a painted wooden one of Valagamba that was covered in gold leaf that had been placed under an archway decorated with dragons. I read that the right hand was raised in the abhaya mudra pose which meant conveying protection. Perhaps the guide in the other cave had meant the same thing when he said the raised hand referred to non-violence.
The vessel collected water that constantly dripped from the ceiling even during droughts. It was protected because it was used for sacred rituals
I think this was the Nissanka Malla statue. but certainly not positive!
Even though these Dambulla caves were famous for their Buddhist statues and images, there were also large numbers of Hindu deities in the caves which I found very surprising. I saw no explanation of why there were images from another religion. Imagine visiting a Catholic church and simultaneously coming across representations of the Jewish faith inside!
Every inch of wall space was covered with detailed frescoes. It would have taken hours to properly really "see" and appreciate each one.
Cave III was known as Maha Alut Viharaya or the New Great Temple was said to have been converted from a storeroom in the 18th century by one of the last Kandyan monarchs. Even though the previous cave was regarded as "the best" I was most struck with the cave art in this cave from the moment we entered. There was just such a sense of peace and awe at the workmanship and love that spilled over into the statues and artwork on every surface even though we weren't Buddhists.
Just a few inches of the stunning ceiling:
I had to crane my head to take a shot of the ceiling in even greater detail!
You can see the wavy ceiling that was painted in such vibrant colors.
I've always thought of caves as being very chilly but this one was anything but - no idea why, though.
I wondered when the stunning dragons surrounding the main Buddha statue had been painted as they looked so new and bold.
Another beautiful reclining Buddha who lay just inches from the ceiling!
The stone pillow Buddha rested his head on looked so cushiony soft I could imagine nodding off on it, too!
Before venturing to Cave IV, we took in the serene lotus pond visible through the corridor's opening.
The grand entrance to one cave:
Cave IV's central Buddha figure in the relatively small Pachina Viharaya or Western Cave was posed under a makara torana or archway. Its cupped hands were in a meditative pose called dhyana mudra.
The dagoba or shrine in the center of the cave had been broken into by robbers who thought it held jewelry belonging to Queen Somawathie.
Cave V, called the Second New Temple or Devana Alut Viharaya, was the smallest cave.
It also contained a reclining Buddha, natch!
By the time we'd gotten to this last temple, we realized we hadn't left the best for last but instead had been totally spoiled by what we had just gawked at! The artistry in the other temples was of such brilliance it just took our breath away.
As we left the caves, we were lucky to spot a holy man bestowing blessings on the faithful in the courtyard.
You can see from this shot of the entrance gate how it and the temples had been built directly into the mountain.
Rather than descending from the mountain top the way we'd climbed up, we walked down the opposite way toward the city of Dambulla.
What a breeze walking down the steps and past the rows of lovely trees that were just blooming. Several times I told tourists who were coming up the steps that this was not the way to come to buy tickets as the signage was so lousy on the Dambulla side for the cave temples. It was so stinking hot they appreciated finding out that they'd come the wrong way instead of climbing up all those steps and then learning the ticket office wasn't up at the entrance gate. Instead, they needed to go back down and all the way around to the ticket office - I kept thinking how we'd appreciate knowing we'd goofed, too!
The last couple of days, while exploring lots and lots of temples, we'd certainly seen plenty of monkeys as the two always seemed to go hand in hand. For some reason, however, there were none on the ascent but oodles on the descent!
The other reason we'd wanted to come down this way was to see the Golden Temple at the foot of the cave temple hill. The temple was certainly impressive for its size but it looked pretty kitschy compared to the grandeur of the remarkable paintings and sculptures in the cave temples. It had been completed in 2000 with donations from Japanese Buddhists.
The Buddha image was in the dhammachakka mudra or wheel-turning pose.
Next post: A jeep safari to Minniriya National Park that same afternoon.
I am also finally finishing up the posts on our trip last fall to Ireland and the UK - about time, I know! In case you want a change of pace and scenery from Sri Lanka, here's the link to my most recent post on exploring Edinburgh that I wrote three days ago, the day Steven and I joyfully discovered we'd become first-time grandparents!
Posted on May 27th, 2020, our son Alexander's 30th birthday and also the proud new dad!
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