Dambulla cave temple (Sinhala: දඹුල්ල රජ මහා විහාරය, romanized: Dam̆būlla Raja Maha Vihāraya; Tamil: தம்புள்ளை பொற்கோவில், romanized: Tampuḷḷai Poṟkōvil), also known as the Golden Temple of Dambulla, is a World Heritage Site (1991) in Sri Lanka, situated in the central part of the country.

The Dambulla cave monastery is still functional and remains the best-preserved ancient edifice in Sri Lanka.

At his feet is Buddha's favourite pupil, Ananda; at his head, Vishnu, said to have used his divine powers to create the caves.

The Buddha statue hewn out of the rock on the left side of the room is escorted by wooden figures of the Bodhisattvas Maitreya and Avalokiteshvara or Natha.

Distinctive tempera paintings on the cave ceiling dating from the 18th century depict scenes from Buddha's life, from the dream of Mahamaya to temptation by the demon Mara.

The third cave, the Maha Alut Vihara, the "Great New Monastery" acquired ceiling and wall paintings in the typical Kandy style during the reign of King Kirti Sri Rajasinha (1747–1782), the famous Buddhist revivalist.

[4] As the Dambulla Temple remains an active ritual centre, the conservation plans of the 1982-1996 project were directed at improving the infrastructure and accessibility of the site in accordance with its UNESCO World Heritage status.

Further investment in the Temple's infrastructure has seen the construction of a museum and other tourist facilities located away from the historical complex.

[4] More recent inspections by UNESCO in 2003 have proposed an expansion to the existing protected zone around the complex in order to minimise damage to surrounding archaeological features.

[4] The conservation project undertaken between 1982 and 1996 focussed mainly on the preservation of the eighteenth-century mural schemes which represent around 80% of the total surviving paintings at Dambulla.

[4] Cleaning was not undertaken during the 1982-1996 project which instead focussed on the implementation of a series of remedial measures to stabilise the murals as well as developing a long-term conservation strategy to minimise further human or environmental damage.