The Ibbankatuwa Megalithic Tombs are an ancient burial site about 10 km south of Dambulla on the shores of the Ibbankatuwa Reservoir. The tombs date from the Iron Age, roughly 1000–500 BC, and consist of large granite slabs arranged over burial chambers — a funerary tradition that links this part of Sri Lanka to the megalithic cultures of South India of the same period.
The site is rarely visited and there is no formal infrastructure. A small number of the tombs have been excavated; the rest remain under the earth. The setting by the reservoir is pleasant, and the visit gives a useful counterpoint to the Buddhist heritage sites that dominate the Cultural Triangle — a reminder that the island was inhabited and culturally sophisticated long before the arrival of the Sinhalese kingdoms.