Mihintale
This is a beautiful
site, revered for being the place where the king was converted to Buddhism
in 243BC enabling the religion to spread over the whole island.
The hilltop site is worth the climb, even in 95 degrees. The triple hills you struggle up give you superb views, one hilltop has a modern Buddha which is beautifully carved, another has an impressive dagoba and temple and the other is a climb up stone cut grooves to a meditation rock outcrop.
Mihintale Buddha
Meditation Rock
Polonnaruwa Buddhas
Polonnaruwa
became a vast city in the 10th – 12th centuries. A
highlight of the site is the group of Buddhas carved from a solid banded
granite outcrop.
The standing figure is over 7 metres high and the reclining figure is 14 metres in length.
Dambulla
The cave temples of
Dambulla are sited in a huge granite outcrop which is a steep and long
climb up from the road.
The cave temples date back to the 1st century and contain more than 150 Buddha statues carved from the solid rock. One cave has over 1,500 paintings of Buddha covering the ceiling.
