Dambulla ෴ දඹුල්ල

Location: Dambulla is located 148 km north-east of Colombo in the North-central province.

Dambulla Transportation hub: Located 72 km north of Kandy, Dambulla is an important junction where the Colombo Trincomalee road and Kandy Anuradhapura road meets and then part heading to their own destinations. Dambulla's well spread-out bus station makes it a transportation hub with buses travelling to Kandy, Kurunagala, Habarana and UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya.

Dambulla town: Dambulla, an insignificant village a couple of decades ago, today is a prosperous modern market town-a commercial hub, driven by the force of intensive cultivation by the industrious farmers of the region.

Dambulla international cricket stadium: Overlooking the picturesque Dambulla reservoir is the Sri Lanka's newest flood-lit international cricket stadium.

Golden Dambulla Rock Cave Temple (UNESCO World Heritage Site): Dambulla Rock Temple, located 2 km south of the city center, is the most extensive, the most significant, and the best preserved rock temple of Sri Lanka. The temple is cut into an enormous granite outcrop rising over 160m above the surrounding countryside. 100m south of Dambulla Rock Temple is the Dambulla Museum.

Accommodation: The top draws among the options of hotel accommodation around Dambulla are Heritance Kandalama on the shores of Dambulla Rainwater Reservoir and Amaya Lake.

About Matale District

Matale is a town in the hill country of Sri Lanka. The Knuckles Mountain Range is a special landmark of Matale.The Matale administrative district also contains the historic Sigiriya rock castle, Aluvihare Temple and Dambulla Cave Temple . Surrounding the town are the Knuckles foothills called Wiltshire. It is a mainly agricultural area, where tea, rubber, vegetable and spice cultivation dominate.

The Aluvihare Temple, on the North side of the town, is the historic location where the Pali Canon was first written down completely in text on ola (palm) leaves. Situated near Aluvihare are numerous monastery caves, some of which exhibit fine frescoes.

About Central Province

The Central Province of Sri Lanka consists primarily of mountainous terrain. The province has an area of 5,674 km², and a population of 2,421,148. Some major towns include Kandy, Gampola (24,730), Nuwara Eliya and Bandarawela. The population is a mixture of Sinhalese, Tamil and the Moors.

Both the hill capital Kandy and the city of Nuwara Eliya are located within the Central Province as well as Sri Pada. The province produces much of the famous Ceylon tea, planted by the British in the 1860s after a devastating disease killed all the coffee plantations in the province. Central Province attracts many tourists, with hill station towns such as Kandy, Gampola, Hatton and Nuwara Eliya. Temple tooth or Dalada maligawa is the main sacred place in Centrel province.

The climate is cool, and many areas about 1500 meters often have chilly nights. The western slopes are very wet, some places having almost 7000 mm of rain per year. The eastern slopes are parts of the mid-dry zone as it is receiving rain only from North-Eastern monsoon. The Temperatures range from 24°C at Kandy to just 16°C in Nuwara Eliya, which is located 1,889 m above sea level. The highest mountains in Sri Lanka are located in the Central Province. The terrain is mostly mountainous, with deep valleys cutting into it. The two main mountain regions are the central massif and the Knuckles range to the east of Kandy.