Planning a day trip to Dambulla & Sigiriya? This one day tour is tailored around a beautiful historical city that was once considered as a kingdom of Sri Lanka. Dambulla is situated in the Matale District, Central Province and has so many great reasons as to why you should visit this part of the island when you are in Sri Lanka spending your vacation.
Sri Lanka is a beautiful small island that is situated in the Indian Ocean and is famous as a tour destination for travellers from all over the world. Dambulla is a city that is not only famous as a tourist destination for foreign travellers but also as a tour destination of our local tour enthusiasts because the great itineraries that they offer and also because of the adventures that you can engage in while you are here.
Sigiriya, which is situated in Dambulla is considered as the 8th wonder of the world and it has also been nominated as a UNESCO world Heritage Site, so it is a must to make a visit to this beautiful and amazing place while you are in Sri Lanka.
While you are in Dambulla you will be able to witness the beautiful and rich Culture of Ceylon, look back into the History of the country along with the breath taking architectural skills which lead it to be named as a World Heritage, and last but not least engage in an adventurous Rock Climb where the view will pay off the hectic climb.
So continue reading the article to find out about an awesome one day tour package filled with excitement, adventure, knowledge, amusement and much more.
Whereabouts
The best thing about a country that is small in its size is that it takes very little time to travel from one place to another within the country. Whereas Dambulla being situated in the central province of the country it has easy access from all around the country. For your convenience I will list down the distance between Dambulla and the major cities of the island and give you approximately the time period that will take to reach this place.
- Colombo to Dambulla – 160kms/ 4 hours
- Airport to Dambulla – 131kms/ 3 ½ hours
- Kandy to Dambulla – 75kms/ 2 hours
- Galle to Dambulla – 258kms/ 5 hours
Rich Culture
The rich culture of the island is one of the reasons why the tourists from all over the world visit this beautiful and magical place. The majority of the Sri Lankans are Buddhists and therefore Buddhists temples are a common sight in the country, but this temple that you will witness in Dambulla is of a unique and one of a kind nature.
The Dambulla cave temple which is also known as the Golden Temple of Dambulla is the best preserved cave temple in Sri Lanka. Moreover it is also considered as a world heritage. So we have included it as one of the itineraries in this one day tour package of Olanka Travels.
The speciality of this temple is that it is situated on a plain 160m above the ground level and has spread across 80 caves. Buddha Statues and unique paintings in relation to Lord Buddha’s life is depicted inside these caves and they spread across five of the commonly visited caves.
The statues in these caves are painted in Gold, hence the name the Golden temple of Dambulla. There is an astonishing number of statues counting to 153 Buddha statues and a few other statues of the kings who ruled the country and gods and goddesses including Vishnu and Ganesh.
After visiting the temple your guide from Olanka for the day will take you to have lunch where you will be able to enjoy a delicious meal spiced u with the famous Sri Lankan spices. And later on in the evening we will take you to the Sigiriya, which is considered as the 8th wonder of the world.
Visit Sigiriya
History.
There is an interesting history behind building this magnificent piece of work. Sigiriya once stood as a proud rock fortress and a palace of the royals. This rock fortress was built by a prince to protect himself from his own brother given a conflict as to the throne. I will not bore upon you the entire story here because our guide from Olanka will explain to you the history while you are in the site.
Apart from the story, Sigiriya plays a major role in the History of Ceylon as it was once a kingdom from where the rulers governed the kingdom of Dambulla. So while you are on your vacation you can also educate yourself as to the history of this beautiful island.
World Heritage
This was named as a world heritage site in the 1980’s given the splendid architecture, the town planning skills, arts and craft, the beautifully kept gardens with planned landscape and especially the water management skill.
Sigiriya was built in the 5th Century and the architecture and most importantly the water management skills that have been used in constructing it still amaze the engineers and the architects of the 21st Century.
The Climb
Once you climb on top of the rock you will be 660 feet above the ground level, and the climb will be worth the view. On top of the rock you will find the remains of the then royal palace and the inner city with perfect city planning.
The western wing of the rock comprises of the water gardens and channels that will amaze you as to how the water was pumped through this enormous rock up to a height of 660 feet. And the eastern wing comprises of the ramparts that once protected this great royal palace.
Moreover Sigiriya also holds importance with regard to arts, crafts and literature given the mirror wall where you will be able to find various poems written across a wall (our guide will be more than happy to explain and translate to you as to what is written) and also the frescos i.e. the paintings will leave you mesmerized.
To Arrange a Dambulla and Sigiriya Day Trip Contact Olanka Travels.
