Dambulla
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Dambulla දඹුල්ල தம்புள்ளை |
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 Dambulla
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| Coordinates: 7°51′28″N 80°39′09″E / 7.85778°N 80.65250°ECoordinates: 7°51′28″N 80°39′09″E / 7.85778°N 80.65250°E | |
| Country | Sri Lanka |
| Province | Central |
| District | Matale |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipal Council |
| Population | |
| • Town | 24,433 (Municipality) |
| • Metro | 68,821 (Extended) |
| Time zone | Sri Lanka Standard Time Zone (UTC+5:30) |
Dambulla (Sinhalese: දඹුල්ල Dam̆bulla, Tamil: தம்புள்ளை Tampuḷḷai) is a large city, situated in the Matale District, Central Province of Sri Lanka, situated 148 km (92 mi) north-east of Colombo and 72 km (45 mi) north of Kandy. Due to its location at a major junction, it's the centre of vegetable distribution in the country.
Major attractions of the area include the largest and best preserved cave temple complex of Sri Lanka, and the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, famous for being built in just 167 days. The area also boasts the largest rose quartz mountain range in South Asia, and the Iron wood forest, or Na Uyana Aranya.
Ibbankatuwa prehistoric burial site near Dambulla cave temple complexes is the latest archaeological site of significant historical importance found in Dambulla, which is located within 3 km (1.9 mi) of the cave temples providing evidence of the presence of indigenous civilisations long before the arrival of Indian influence on the Island nation.
The area is thought to be inhabited from as early as the 7th to 3rd century BC. Statues and paintings in these caves date back to the 1st century BC. But the paintings and statues were repaired and repainted in the 11th, 12th, and 18th century AD. The caves in the city provided refuge to King Valagamba (also called Vattagamini Abhaya) in his 14-year-long exile from the Anuradapura kingdom. Buddhist monks meditating in the caves of Dambulla at that time provided the exiled king protection from his enemies. When King Valagamba returned to the throne at Anuradapura kingdom in the 1st century BC, he had a magnificent rock temple built at Dambulla in gratitude to the monks in Dambulla.
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Wikipedia