The rock monastery of Aluvihara is beside the Kandy-Dambulla road. The monastery caves are situated in rocks, which have fallen from the mountains high above the valley. Some of the caves have fine frescoes. The doctrine of the Buddha was first recorded here, in Pali scripts, around the 1^st century BC. The monks today are inscribing Buddhist Scriptures in palm-leaf (ola) books. In addition there are colourful statues of devils and sinners that show the various forms of punishment handed out in the afterlife.