Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c23.1073

v1.c23.1073

When the women of the palace, led by Anulā, wife of the sub-king, Mahānāga, expressed a desire to become nuns, Devānampiyatissa sent another embassy to Asoka asking him to send Saṅghamittā, together with the right branch of the sacred Bodhi-tree. This branch miraculously severed itself from the parent tree and, together with Saṅghamittā, was conveyed down the Ganges and arrived in Jambukola, where it was received with all honour by Devānampiyatissa. From Jambukola it was taken in procession to Anurādhapura, where it was planted in the Mahāmeghavana, the king instituting in its honour a festival, which was observed for many centuries. For the use of Saṅghamittā and the nuns the king erected various buildings, the chief of which was the Hatthālhaka-vihāra and the Upāsikā-vihāra with its twelve mansions.² Among other works of Devānampiyatissa we are told of the building of the Issarasamaṇa- and the Vessagiri-vihāras, the refectory called Mahāpāli, the Jambukola-vihāra in Nāgadīpa, the Tissamahā-vihāra, the Pācīnārāma and the Paṭhamathūpa. He also built the Tissavāpi at Anurādhapura.³