Approximatively one hour drive from Kandy and only few minutes away from Sri Muthumariamman Hindu Temple in Matale, Aluvihare Rock Temple is a site to explore if you are looking for more authenticity, far away from famous but crowed places in the Sri Lankan Cultural triangle.
Aluvihare Rock Temple rooms have been built in caves where amazing frescoes were painted, along with very colorful Buddah statues. There is even one cave with frescoes illustrating punishements for robbers, liers or sexual agressors. The paintings were so explicit that I did not feel confortable to shoot it, even though it was really instructive and different from what you are used to see.
Once again, you will not miss the Bodhi Tree, representing the fig tree where Buddah used to seat down for meditation.
There are also other temples to reach on the upper mountains if you want to practice some hikking. Otherwise, you can admire the giant gold Buddah statue surrounded by a lush green vegetation.
To sum up, I really recommend this stop on the road from Kandy to Dambulla to entertain the journey with an authentic buddhist temple. An excellent option is to combine it with Sri Muthumariamman Temple in Matale few minutes away to vary the scenery...
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