The first site you’ll pass heading towards Dambulla at heart of the Cultural Triangle is the monastery of Aluvihara, occupying a number of caves in a picturesque valley about 8 km (5 miles) north of Matale. It was in these caves that the Buddhist doctrines were first committed to paper— or rather ola leaf — in the 1st century BC. The Tripitakaya was written in an ancient script called Pali on long leaves of the ola palm and then loosely bound to make books. Much of the library was destroyed by the British in 1848, after a rebel leader took refuge in the caves. The work of replacing the lost manuscripts continues today, and you can see monks painstakingly filling ola books in a scriptorium.
The various caves have different functions and contrasting moods. Several are
beautifully painted with , frescoes; one contains a large reclining Buddha, also brightly painted; and one is dedicated to the Indian scholar Buddhagosa. The strangest of all contains a salutary depiction of the afterlife awaiting miscreants, As your eyes adjust to the gloom, you w ill see colourful statues of sinners being punished by demons.
Some 17 km (11 miles) west of Aluvihara is Ridigama, close to the Colombo road. In this village, the site where silver was discovered in the second century BC, you will find a cave temple with a gilded Buddha and various other works of art.