Rock that Became a Temple

After 14 years in hiding, when King Valagamba finally returned to reclaim his throne in Anuradhapura around 89 BCE, he paid homage to a cave—a dark, wind-swept sanctuary carved deep into a 160-metre granite rock in the heart of Sri Lanka, just outside the dry plains of Dambulla.

- By AMI BHAT

Here he carved a reclining Buddha into a rock, leaving behind a legacy that would only grow as other kings came; Nissanka Malla gilded the walls and left inscriptions of his generosity in Sinhalese.