Beneath the peaceful facade of Bentota Udakotuwa Temple lies the shadow of a vanished Buddhist world. Once part of a vast 2200 year old monastic complex, the sanctuary was destroyed during the Portuguese occupation and swallowed by jungle. Legends tell of secret tunnels linking its temples, while its most exquisite Nari Latha carvings were carried away to another shrine. Below the hill, the river was once feared as the domain of Bemrakusa, a demon said to haunt its waters.

A fugitive king once sought refuge beneath this colossal granite mountain. More than two millennia later, the Dambulla Cave Temple that sheltered him contains one of Sri Lanka's most extraordinary sacred worlds. Five enormous chambers are engulfed by ancient murals depicting celestial wars and the cosmic struggle between enlightenment and destruction. Beneath the painted chaos, 157 statues sit completely undisturbed by the passing of centuries and the rise and fall of empires