Dambulla

One of the five caves on Dambulla cave temple

Dambulla is a city in Central province of Sri Lanka.

Understand

Dambulla is the largest and best-preserved cave temple complex in Sri Lanka. Major attractions are spread over five caves, which contain statues and paintings. These paintings and statues are related to Gautama Buddha and his life. There are a total of 153 Buddha statues, three statues of Sri Lankan kings and four statues of gods and goddesses.

Get in

Buses from Colombo (148 km west), Kandy (72 km south, 2-3 hours), Anuradhapura (2-3 hours), Sigiriya and other places arrive regularly at the Dambulla bus station on Kandy road. From Sigiriya, you can continue by direct bus to Dambulla. Buses run on this route at intervals of 30 minutes and cost Rs 100. The last bus for Dambulla leaves at 18:00. Alternatively, you can take a tuk tuk to go back to Inamaluwa junction, from where you can take the bus to Dambulla as well, or you can go to Dambulla from Sigiriya by tuk tuk which will cost about Rs 1,000. The distance from Sigiriya to Dambulla is 18 km, and from Inamaluwa to Dambulla 10 km.

From Kandy: take A/C Bus 43 from (here), departs irregularly when seats are filled, ticket 470LKR, duration 2hr to reach Dambulla.

• 1 Dambulla Main Bus Station, Kandy - Jaffna Hwy. 

See

1 Dambulla cave temple (Golden Temple), Kandy - Jaffna Hwy (Entrance is on Kandy Road). 07:00-19:00. The main if not the only attraction of the town, also inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The temple is composed of five caves which are accessible after a 10-minute stone stairs climb. These caves contain well conserved statues and paintings. Ls 2000 for foreigners. (updated Aug 2024)

Do

• Cricket: First class matches and internationals are played at Rangiri Dambulla Stadium, by the lake 2 km southwest of city centre.

Sleep

There are both simple guest houses and more up-scale resorts available, some close to the temple complex, about 1 km south from the town centre.

Budget

• 1 Dambulla Tourist Resort, Kandy - Jaffna Hwy (In front of Post Office), ☏ +94 72 201 5930. Basic rooms with fan and private bathroom. Ideally situated between the bus station and the Dambulla Cave Temple, on the main road but not noisy. 15-20$ (2018). 

Splurge

• Amaya Lake, Kap Ela, Kandalama, ☏ +94 66 4461500, +94 66 2286823, amayalake@amayaresorts.com. 120 rooms. From 119USD (2013). 
• Heritance Kandalama Hotel, ☏ +94 66 5555000, +94 773043554, kandalama@heritancehotels.com. Beautiful 5-start hotel with great views from the rooms and the pool. From 132$ (2013). 
• Kassapa Lions Rock, Digampathana , Kimbissa, ☏ +94 66 5677440. 31 rooms with a veranda that opens to a mini garden, all of which have air-conditioning, satellite TV and mini-bar. From 100$ (2013). 

Go next

• Colombo There are several buses to Colombo from the bus station, it costs about 140 LKR in non A/C buses.
• Anuradhapura
• Sigiriya Just 30mn north-east of Dambulla, you can easily visit Lion Rock as a day trip from Dambulla (buses at the Main Bus Station)
• Matale
• Kandy
• Polonnaruwa located 67 km east of Dambulla