Some of the cave statues at Dambulla, Sri Lanka

It is now 7th April 2019 and I'm finally back-blipping some pictures from our visit to Sri Lanka in December 2015 and January 2016.

I wanted to print a couple of pictures from my archive of this visit for a friend who is recovering from a heart by-pass operation. His wife said he'd like some pictures of the holy rock of Sigiriya, near to Dambulla, which I have now printed. I then saw this picture I took inside the massive caves complex found halfway up a big hill at Dambulla itself. I thought this would be a good place to make a start with my back-blips. Helena and I were very moved by the experience of being in these holy caves. She was rather brought back to earth when a monkey attacked her for the food she was eating on the walk down the steep steps back to 'earth'.
(I've added a map link so you can easily find where it is.)

I found this brief description online telling of the caves and their history
The beautiful Royal Rock Temple complex sits about 160m above the road in the southern part of Dambulla. Prehistoric Sri Lankans would have lived in these cave complexes before the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka as there are burial sites with human skeletons about 2700 years old in this area, at Ibbankatuwa near the Dambulla cave complexes.

Five separate caves contain about 150 absolutely stunning Buddha statues and paintings, some of Sri Lanka's most important and evocative religious art. Buddha images were first created here over 2000 years ago, and over the centuries subsequent kings added to and embellished the cave art, particularly the stone ceilings. From the caves there are superb views over the surrounding countryside; Sigiriya is clearly visible some 20km distant.

Dambulla is thought to have been a place of worship since the 1st century BC, when King Valagamba (also known as Vattagamani Abhaya), driven out of Anuradhapura, took refuge here. When he regained his throne, he had the interior of the caves carved into magnificent rock temples. Further paintings were made by later kings, including King Nissanka Malla, who had the caves’ interiors gilded, earning the place the name Ran Giri (Golden Rock).