This book is the revised illustrated Second Edition of The Golden Rock Temple of Dambulla (known popularly as the Rangiri Dambulu Viharaya) by Emeritus Professor Anuradha Seneviratna,. It was first published by the UNESCO - SRI LANKA CULTURAL TRIANGLE PROJECT over 25 years ago in 1983.                                                    
This Edition is in a new format, with additional text and new colour photographs by Vijitha and Lalana Yapa, and is truly a descriptive record of the "Cave Temple of infinite Buddhas in this supreme art gallery of Asia". It depicts the Buddhist heritage of Sri Lanka belonging to a lengthy period going back to the pre-Christian era of the Island, and is replete with colour photographs of murals, statues and buildings which have been created by skilled Sinhala artists and craftsmen. This book deserves the attention of both scholars and laymen alike.
The Author has written other well-known books connected with the island's heritage, including Gateway to Kandy -Ancient Monuments in the Central Hills of Sri Lanka, Sri Dalada Maligawa - The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy, Sri Lanka, The Kandy Asala Perahera, Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura, Mihintale, The Dances of Sri Lanka.                                                                                                                                                                
Prof. Anuradha Seneviratna who graduated from Peradeniya University in 1965 obtained his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1968 from the University of Halle in Germany. He joined the academic staff of the Colombo University in the same year as a Lecturer in Sinhala. He joined the Peradeniya University in 1973 as Senior Lecturer in Sinhala and served in that capacity until 1984. During this period he also served as the Director of the Institute of Aesthetic Studies in Colombo. He won the Fulbright Research Fellowship in 1977 and served as a Research Associate in the University of indiana, and later in the University of California. He was promoted as Associate Professor in the Department of Sinhala in 1984, and served in that position till 1991. In 1988, he won the Commonwealth Academic Staff Fellowship and was elected to a Visiting fellowship at the Institute of Social Anthropology in the Oxford University. In 1991, he was promoted a full Professor and in 1996 as a Senior Professor in which capacity he served till his retirement from this University in February 2004. He was appointed Senior Fellow of the University of London in 1998 and was the Visiting Professor of Sinhala, Pali and Buddhism for two years. He was awarded the Emeritus Professor status by the University Council on his retirement.
According to a recent bibliography prepared by the Peradeniya University he has written nearly seventy books in Sinhala and English, research articles and newspaper articles.
He was conferred the highest National Award 'Kalakirti' by the Government of Sri Lanka in 1991 and the honourary title 'Dharma Sastra Visarada Kirti Sri' in the same year by the Malwatte Maha Vihara in Kandy in recognition of his services to Arts, Literature, Education and Culture. He also won the State Literary Award thrice for his published books in English and was also the President of the Arts Council of Sri Lanka.
The Central Provincial Council at a public reception held in Kandy in the year 2007 honoured him for his services rendered to the country, over the last fifty years. Similarly the Kandy Municipal Council unanimously named a municipal road at Katugastota after him calling it "Professor Anuradha Seneviratna Mawatha" in recognition of his services. These events are very rare occurrences in the life of a living intellectual and a writer of our times