Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c8.342

v1.c8.342

Hiouen Thsang¹⁶ found, at Isipatana, fifteen hundred monks studying the Hīnayāna. In the enclosure of the Saṅghārāma was a vihāra about two hundred feet high, strongly built, its roof surmounted by a golden figure of the mango. In the centre of the vihāra was a life-size statue of the Buddha turning the wheel of the Law. To the south-west were the remains of a stone stūpa built by Asoka.¹⁷ In front of it was a stone pillar to mark the spot where the Buddha preached his first sermon. Near by was another stūpa on the site where the Pañcavaggiyas spent their time in meditation before the Buddha's arrival, and another where five hundred Pacceka Buddhas entered Nibbāna. Close to it was another building where the future Buddha Metteyya received assurance of his becoming a Buddha.