Degaldoruwa Cave Temple

Degaldoruwa, about 6 km east of Kandy on the Mahiyangana road, contains some of the finest eighteenth-century murals in Sri Lanka. The cave temple — carved from a natural rock overhang — has three painted halls covering scenes from the Jataka tales (stories of the Buddha's previous lives) with a vividness and naturalism unusual in Sri Lankan Buddhist art.

The temple sees far fewer visitors than the sites in the city center, which means you can often view the murals in relative quiet. The caretaker monk is knowledgeable about the iconography. A tuk-tuk from Kandy takes about twenty minutes; combine with a visit to the Kandy War Cemetery or Katugastota area.

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A story
The murals at Degaldoruwa were painted in the eighteenth century in what art historians call the Kandyan style — a break from the more formally classical Sri Lankan tradition that introduced perspective, shading, and portraiture. The painters depicted not only Buddhist stories but also the court life of their own time: noblemen, musicians, and domestic scenes that make the murals as much a social document as a religious one. The artists remain anonymous, as was customary, but the quality suggests royal patronage.

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