Dowa Cave Temple

The next day we headed out in Kasun’s cousin’s auto rickshaw and headed towards the Halpewaththa Tea Factory for a tour. Unfortunately there was no production going on, since no tea had been picked the day before. I was invited to come back the next morning, but I had planned to head towards Kandy then. Equally disappointing, the only tea pluckers we spotted were way in the distance up a steep hill. So much for tea photos and tours.

The auto rickshaw coasted down the hill and then turned towards Bandarawela, where we stopped at the Dowa Cave Temple. While waiting for the attendant, we looked at the large standing Buddha carved into the rock. A sizable Bodhi tree (sacred to Buddhists) was adorned with streamers of Buddhist flags and some good-luck flags. A big skeleton key was used to open up the short doors, revealing old frescoes on the wall and ceiling. Lotus flowers were painted on the ceiling and some walls. Scenes of Buddha were painted in rows. Inside were two reclining Buddha statues as well as several seated figures. Newer rooms revealed more scenes of Buddha, depicted in a more realistic style. Through a back door Kasun showed me a cave whose entry (now blocked) once was connected to another temple.

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