Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c15.s2.t1.2

c15.s2.t1.2

The inscriptions give names of two monasteries, one Kulaha Vihāra and the other Sīhala Vihāra, the latter for the Ceylonese monks. Other sects include Aparamahāvinaseliya (same as Pali, Aparaseliya, as distinguished from the Pūrvaseliyas of Amaravati), Mahīsāsaka (a subdivision of the Theravādins and appears to have flourished in the Andhra country), and Bahusuliya (Bahuśrutiya, a subdivision of the Gokulika sect belonging to the Mahāsaṅghikas). The Saṅgha besides its local organisation had also a branch named Chatudisa Saṅgha (i. e. the International Buddhist Church for the reception of foreign monks (later on referred to under this name in the Nālanda C. P. of Devapāla) which functioned with great vitality under its Āchāryas, Dhammakathikas, Desakas and Vāchakas.