Dambulla
Five cave shrines cut from a single granite outcrop in the 1st century BC and in continuous use for over two thousand years – the largest cave contains over 150 gilded Buddha statues and painted ceiling murals covering every surface of the rock above them. The paint has been renewed and added to across 22 […]
Kandy
Sri Lanka’s last royal capital sits within a bowl of green hills surrounding an artificially constructed lake – the city’s geography is itself an act of deliberate royal design. The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is the most venerated Buddhist shrine in the world outside Sri Lanka. The Kandy lake, the cloud forest reserve […]
Polonnaruwa
Sri Lanka’s medieval capital from the 11th to 13th century is more compact, better preserved and more navigable by bicycle than its ancient predecessor. The Royal Palace complex, the Sacred Quadrangle and the Gal Vihara are the centrepieces – the Gal Vihara in particular, where four monumental Buddhas are carved with extraordinary technical mastery and […]
Anuradhapura
Sri Lanka’s first royal capital was founded in the 4th century BC and remained continuously inhabited for over a thousand years. The Sri Maha Bodhi Tree – a direct cutting from the original Bodhi Tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment, planted here in 288 BC – is the oldest documented living tree on earth […]
Sigiriya
The 5th-century royal fortress rises 200 metres above the surrounding jungle with hydraulic water gardens at its base still partially functional after 1,500 years, frescoes of celestial maidens painted directly onto the sheer rock face, a mirror wall inscribed with devotional poetry spanning a thousand years and panoramic views across the entire Cultural Triangle from […]