Dambulla - a cave temple with a two thousand year history

Have you noticed that in almost any country you are drawn to a cathedral, monastery or basilica for a deeper acquaintance with local culture? In Sri Lanka, you should definitely look into Dambulla for the cave temple complex with many well-preserved Buddhist frescoes and sculptures, which are more than 2000 years old.

During the Tamil invasion from South India in the 1st century BC, King Valagamba was forced to relinquish the capital of the state, Anuradhapura, and flee south, hiding from the persecution. He found his refuge in the cavernous caverns on the western side of the mountain near Dambulla. After 12 years, the king managed to gather his army and regain control of the country, and in gratitude to the natural shelter, he decided to turn the caves into Buddhist temples, expanded them a bit, smoothed sharp corners, built overflows so that rainwater did not penetrate and did not cause trouble and discomfort to the monks and hermits. In subsequent years, the Sinhalese kings either completely ignored the holy place, or took an active part in its ennoblement, mainly in the period from the 11th to the 16th centuries, adding new statues, the total number of which exceeds 150, and initiating the painting of walls and arches.

Later, the entrances to all five caves were closed with white galleries for the best preservation of the historical heritage, which is under the protection of UNESCO. And the Buddhism Museum, which was built at the base of the mountain in 2000 with the donations of the Japanese, smacks of excessive kitsch and is interesting not only from the point of view of buying tickets to the temple complex, but also the ability to leave backpacks in storage for a couple of hundred rupees or, of course, doubt very much the suitcases - catch a free life hack. I bet that while traveling in Sri Lanka, you are unlikely to choose Dambulla as a place to spend the night, preferring the nearby large city of Kandy.

Cave No. 1, Virgo Raja Viharaya, “Temple of the King of the Gods”, got its lofty name not because of the large statue of the reclining Buddha at the time of attaining the highest degree of enlightenment and leaving for parinirvana. More precisely, it is believed that the king of the gods-devas Sakka personally introduced the final touches to the appearance of the statue from the rock. The world of devas is one of the six worlds in the wheel of samsara, and it would seem that the gods should never suffer, but only sit in heaven, enjoy a long life and enjoy all the gifts of their elitist status, reveling in divine ambrosia. However, at the end of their lives, the Devas also realize the illusory nature of their privileged position and do not understand the aspirations of people and demigod-asuras to occupy their warm place. According to another version, the presence of a small statue of the Hindu supreme god Vishnu, who patronized the creation of the sanctuary, was directly reflected in the choice of the name for the cave.

It is believed that the sculptures in the cave date back to the 1st century BC. At the feet of the Buddha is his cousin and closest disciple Ananda, the guardian of dharma (teaching). The frescoes on the walls were repeatedly painted over with new images, especially actively during the XVII-XVIII centuries, when all the caves of the complex received the names by which they are known today. In general, over the centuries, frescoes have faded quite a lot due to candles and incense brought by pilgrims, and now they still suffer from outbreaks of careless tourists.

After visiting Tibetan and Nepalese temples in my notes, I could skillfully operate with difficult-to-pronounce names of deities and bodhisattvas: for example, judging by the red color of the body, such wisdom (gesture) and the presence of certain objects, before us, of course, thereafter followed the very name that more than one reading language was broken about. In the temples of Sri Lanka, another difficulty awaited me and a double-edged sword. On the one hand, most of the sculptural compositions depict precisely the Buddha himself, due to the specifics of the local branch of Buddhism; on the other hand, it is complemented by Sinhalese kings, and the frescoes depict key moments from the life of the Buddha, as well as significant events from the history of Sri Lanka, which it was not possible to penetrate from the swoop. However, it will be much easier for the average reader to read the subsequent text without an overabundance of Buddhist terms.

The most spacious cave No. 2 of the entire complex, Maha Raja Viharaya, the “Temple of the Great King”, got its name in honor of King Valagamba, who personally participated in the creation of the cave sanctuary in the 1st century BC. The size of the space and the number of sculptures of the Buddha, his students and Sri Lankan kings are impressive not only because of the elegant painting of the arches and walls, reflecting episodes from the life of the Buddha before and after gaining enlightenment. Together with a pleasant chill coming from the mountain, muffled by dim light and almost complete silence, into which the talk of rare and small tourist groups sometimes wedges in the company of a guide respectfully passing into a whisper, the atmosphere of antiquity and pacification envelops you from all sides and has an attentive study of Sri Lankan cultural religious heritage.

The statue of a standing Buddha carved from an almost life-size piece of granite still preserves the insignificant remains of gilding inflicted by King Nissankamala at the end of the 12th century. Buddha holds his right hand with an open palm at chest level - Abhaya Mudra - a gesture of fearlessness and the gift of protection. Above the head of the enlightened prince is the “dragon arch”.

According to legend, on the last night of meditation under a Bodhi tree, before gaining enlightenment, Buddha fought on the spiritual plane with the king of death, Mara. The demon tried to distract and confuse the true prince Siddhartha as he could: at first he sent all kinds of werewolves and evil spirits to him, but he simply did not notice them, then he tried to tempt him with his daughters, after he sent a hurricane and an earthquake, but the Buddha remained unshakable.

To the left of the Buddha is a statue of the great King Valagamba, who created the first three caves in the complex. The king’s left hand is folded in a varada mudra - a gesture of bringing benefits, the right hand is folded in a vitarka mudra - a gesture of argument, admonition and warning.

Two wooden statues in the corner of the cave represent significant deities for Sri Lankans. On the left is the supreme god of Hinduism, Vishnu, whose image is often found in Dambulla itself and in many other temples of the island due to the regular invasions of Tamils from South India on Sri Lankan lands. On the right is Saman, one of the four guardians of Sri Lanka. According to legend, the sacred mountain of Sri Pada, known as the peak of Adam, where the footprint of the Buddha is located, is also the abode of Saman.

Variations of the dragon’s arch in Dambulla alone were able to identify several. Here, for example, there are no dragon-like creatures, the Buddha stands on a lotus pedestal under an arc of flame.

The most interesting frescoes, as luck would have it, are located in the darkest corners of the cave, where you cannot handle it without a tripod and long exposure, so for reporting we had to be content with sections of the vault where sunlight penetrated as much as possible from the outside and rare lamps placed in the cave shone.

Inside a stupa, or dagoba, as they are called in Sri Lanka, Buddhist relics are usually walled up - a piece of clothing, hair or other objects belonging to an enlightened being. A relatively small stupa surrounded by Buddhas was not found in the chronicles.

A lotus pond in a holy and prayed place looks for granted a landscape design solution, albeit an unflattering originality and innovation, but bearing additional symbolism. Tied with roots in a muddy bottom and tearing through the water column, lotus flowers, representing spiritual purification, open with dawn above the surface of the pond.

There are about 50 Buddha statues in the third temple, a statue with an outstanding decoration of the throne, the so-called "dragon arch", stands out from them. In two mythical creatures on either side of the meditating saint, it is extremely difficult to identify dragons, they are significantly different from creatures in the second cave. First, the muzzles resemble snow lions characteristic of Tibetan Buddhism, or chint lions, which are often found at the entrance to temples in Southeast Asia. Secondly, only one pair of limbs is striking in the apparent absence of wings. Thirdly, the tail resembles a rooster rather than a dragon.

Cave No. 4, Pashima Viharaya, is simply called the “Western Temple” because of its location, because for a long time it was the most remote cave on the western slope of the mountain. Later, another sanctuary was organized behind her, and Sinhalese did not bother to rename them to something more magnificent. In addition to more or less identical Buddha statues, the cave is notable for a small stupa where treasures of the wife of King Valagamba were stored. Contrasting seams and a different color of plaster on the mortar - the memory of cosmetic repairs after looting.

The frescoes on the walls, which are of considerable interest to historians and scholars of Sri Lankan Buddhism, are also quite well preserved; and the glory to the Japanese engineers that the camera and in very poor lighting manages to focus and produce a more or less sharp picture.

Cave No. 5, Dewana Alut Viharaya, "Second New Temple" is the newest in the complex, and the exact time of its creation does not appear in any chronicles. Some of the largest statues are made of bricks and plastered with plaster, while most of the sculptures in the remaining caves are carved from whole pieces of granite rock. Of particular interest here is a small Buddha statue in the corner, where an open cobra hood hangs over Siddhartha sitting in the lotus. That is, the king of the nagas of Muchalind, who was protecting the Buddha at the time of enlightenment, which is reflected in the text of the Muchalind Sutta:

“Then the Blessed One sat in a cross-legged position, experiencing the bliss of liberation for seven days. It so happened that out of season for seven days a storm raged with torrential rain and a cold wind. Then Muchalinda, the king of the nagas, leaving his abode, wrapped seven times his body around the Blessed One and spread his giant hood over his head, wanting to protect the Lord from the cold, heat, wind, sun, harassing flies, mosquitoes and reptiles. When these seven days came to an end and the Blessed One left his turning, Muchalind, the king of the Nagas, seeing that the clouds were gone and the sky was clear, turned his rings from the body of the Lord. Changing the shape of the body and taking on the appearance of a young man, the serpent bowed before the Blessed One, folding his hands in a gesture of respectful greeting.

With cats in Sri Lanka, things are not very, the most effective and affordable way to capture the representatives of the Sri Lankan fauna on a camera card is to pay attention to the crested endemic macaques that occupied trees on the top of the mountain. Unlike the impudent relatives from Mihintale and the gopovoy brigade from Polonnaruwa, who don’t blink an eye and take away all the contents of your unreasonably open backpack, the local brethren, apparently imbued with the sanctity of Dambulla, behave quite intelligently and calmly.

They don’t jump at a tourist who came up, take a selfie, of course, they don’t let you know the boundaries, a lover of instagram likes, otherwise your earrings will be worn by the favorite concubine of the pack leader.

They sit on the parapet of the stairs or trees, look for lice from each other - the very embodiment of cleanliness is as if they had not picked up and pulled into the mouth everything that would be more or less edible.

A bit of practical information: an entrance ticket to the complex will cost 1,500 Sri Lankan, which is now equivalent to about 600 rubles, in any case, you should focus on the price of $ 10, it’s more convenient. It is much cheaper than Sigiriya, but a typical misfortune will still say that for such a not-so-rich country like Sri Lanka, it’s expensive, and indeed, making money from tourists is contrary to the canons of Buddhism.

It is very convenient to capture Dambulla on the way from Sigiriya to Kandy, or vice versa, jumping out of a bus rushing along winding Sri Lankan roads. Among all the temples of Sri Lanka that we visited, Dambulla occupies a special place due to its antiquity and atmosphere. It is one thing to wander among the almost completely destroyed pagodas or climb the stairs to the top of a lonely mountain with the foundations of the buildings of the royal palace, it is quite another thing to go into dark caves with statues, some of which are more than 2000 years old.