Sri Lanka’s cave temples of Dambulla lie approximately 2 hours north of the city of Kandy, and one hour south of the ancient city of Sigiriya. The site, at first, certainly doesn’t appear to be very holy, with a garish, kitschy front entrance, hoards of hawkers, and an aura of commercialism that you won’t find in any of Sri Lanka’s nearby ancient cities. It is worth seeing, however, and in our opinion, not to be missed.

Lavish ceiling frescoes provide a stunning backdrop for Buddha sculptures at Dambulla

The site is officially known as Royal Rock Temple, and the visitor begins by walking up the slope of a rock face, accompanied by hawkers, guides, and beggars. Eventually, this grind is rewarded with a stunning view of five contiguous whitewashed temples built into a cave complex, each of them representing the opening to a different cave. The five caves contain remarkable examples of Buddhist art. All boast a number of sculptural Buddha images (there are an estimated 150 in the site), and the ceilings are covered with immaculate and colorful frescoes painted on the rock itself, painted primarily in the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

Especially after the tour buses depart, the place has an amazingly calm and quiet atmosphere, and we enjoyed moseying from one cave to another, in the absence of tour guides. We enjoyed it best when we were alone, and the noise of lecturers and tourists was absent.

Upon arrival at the ticket booth below the caves, it’s easy to become quickly disillusioned with the place. It’s terribly commercial. And even after you pay your 1500 rupees for admission, you’ll still be dunned for a few coins in the caves themselves, if you want the lights on (just push your money into the convenient slot). There’s a large Buddhist radio station onsite, and we suspect that somehow support for that radio station is part of the over-commercialism. One person we met was so put-off, that he didn’t pay admission, and just walked up the hill into the caves; no one was there to take his ticket. We’re telling you this because we urge you to hold in the contents of your stomach, try to ignore the commercialism, and see the site anyway. It’s well worth it,, and will be a highlight of your trip to Sri Lanka.