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Courtyard of Royal Rock Temple

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This place was a monastery where King Valagamba took refuge in the first century BC after being driven out of Anuradhapura. When he regained his throne he showed his appreciation to the monks by having the cave interiors carved into magnificent rock temples. Later kings added to the caves and one had the interiors gilded and decorated with frescoes. There were five caves containing a total of about 150 Buddha images at the time of our visit.