The city of Dambulla is situated in the Central Province of Sri Lanka, situated 148 km north-east of Colombo and 72 km north of Kandy. Major attraction of the city is the largest and best preserved cave temple complex of Sri Lanka.

This cave temple complex was built by King Valagambahu in the 1st Century B.C. This includes 5 caves covered with murals over an area of 2100m. The total of 160 statues in all 5 caves includes 153 Buddha statues, 3 of Sri Lankans Kings and 4 of god and goddess. The caves in the city provided refuge to King Valagamba (also called Vattagamini Abhaya) in his 14 year long exile from the Anuradapura kingdom. The paintings and statues were repaired and repainted in 11th, 12th, and 18th century AD. Dambulla Cave Temple complex was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991.

Ibbankatuwa prehistoric burial site near Dambulla cave temple complexes is the latest archaeological site of significant historical importance found in Dambulla, which is located within 3 kilometers of the cave temples providing evidence on presence of indigenous civilizations long before the arrival of Indian influence on the Island nation.

Some of the other attractions in Dambulla are newly built Golden Temple and Rangiri Dambullu International Cricket Stadium famous for being built in just 167 days.