Dambulla is located at a distance of 19 km away from Sigiriya. By far the most impressive of all the cave temples in Sri Lanka, is the Dambulla Raja Maha VIhara also known as the Dambulla Rock temple. This consists of 5 cave temples dating back to the 12th Century AD.
Like Sigiriya, Dambulla is a vast isolated rock mass which rises more than 100 Meters above the village. The inner walls of the caves are fully illustrated with paintings, some being more than 2000 years old. The cave is also adorned with numerous statues of Buddha (48 of them) and Hindu gods. In one of the caves, you will find a colossal figure of the recumbent Buddha carved out of the rock, some 14 meters long.
Places of Interest