SRI LANKA ~ The Maha Raja Viharaya - Dambulla - UNESCO ~

... Beautiful Cave Temple view... these caves form the best preserved and biggest cave temple complex in Asia and the most impressive of Sri Lanka... they displaying a range of Buddha statues and beautiful artwork... all related to Lord Buddha and his life... the centre of pilgrimage and a sacred place for Buddhists and Hindus for 22 centuries.... it's the island's most popular historic site... Thanks a lot Ravindra!!【ツ】

Photo: Juergen Schreiber © Lasantha Lakmal
Dambulla Cave temple is situated in the central part of the country. The rock towers 160 m over the surrounding plains.The history of the caves, rock and temple dates from the 1st century BC. There are five caves (shrine rooms) in Dambulla temple. All of these caves arc full of statues of Buddha and various personages of the Buddhist Order or History.

The Maha Raja Viharaya or Temple of the Great King (cave nr2) is 52 metres from one side to another, and 23 metres from the entrance to the back, with the sloping ceiling seven metres at its highest point. The entire surface of the cave is a mosaic of frescoes with so many themes and styles. This cave contains fifty-there images. The majority of the statues are of Buddha in different attitudes. Many of them are larger, but none much smaller than life

The Temple of Dambulla were declared as one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites in 1991.

Stamp: 

Pigeon Island Marine National Park
(Issued 22-08-2014)