Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c14.798

v1.c14.798

1. Gokaṇṇa.—A locality in Ceylon and a vihāra founded by Mahāsena, on the site of a Hindu temple.¹ According to the Mahāvamsa Ṭīkā,² it was on the east coast of Ceylon. Elsewhere,³ the Ṭīkā speaks of a Gokaṇṇatittha in the neighbourhood of the estuary of the Mahākandaranadī, and the Cūḷavamsa⁴ mentions Gokaṇṇa as the last of a series of fords in Rohaṇa, important from a strategic point of view, along the Mahāvālukagaṅgā, from “Sarogāmatittha to Gokaṇṇa.” In another passage,⁵ Gokaṇṇa(ka) is spoken of as mahannava (the ocean). These facts support Geiger’s conjecture⁶ that Gokaṇṇa refers to the Trincomalee (Koddiyar) Bay at the estuary of the Mahāvālukagaṅgā.