Dambulla is a small town located at a distance of 19 km from Sigriya on
the Sigriya-Kandy road. Dambulla has over 80 caves in the surrounding and
some of them have been used by the monks as meditation locations. Major
attraction is the Dambulla Rock Temple consisting of five cave temples
dating back to the 1st century BC. The temples contain many statues and
paintings. Hindu statues are believed to be of the 12 century AD and the
latest paintings are of the late 18-century.
Other places of tourist interest are Iron Wood Forest and Rose Quartz
Mountain. The site was declared as a human sanctuary by King Dappula
in 10 century AD. Trees believed to have been planted by those who sought
sanctuary here, later on turned into a vast plantation of Iron wood
forest. Apart from the biodiversity of the site as it contains many other
plants, it is also geologically important because of the Rose Quartz
mountain range in the garden, which is believed to be over 500 million
years old. White, rose and violet colour quartz deposits can be seen here.
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