Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c9.898

v1.c9.898

2. Upatissa.—Purohita to Vijaya, king of Ceylon. He founded a settlement at Upatissagāma.¹ 3. Upatissa I.—King of Ceylon. He reigned for forty-two years between A.C. 362 and 409. He was the eldest son of Buddhadāsa. He was of very kindly disposition and lived a simple life, eating of the food served in the Mahāpāli alms-hall. It is said that once, when the roof of his palace started leaking at night, he lay all night in the wet, being loth to disturb any of the servants. During a period of drought and famine, he organised a religious festival, causing rain to fall. He built the Rajuppala, Gijjhakūṭa, Pokkharapāsaya, Valāhassa, Ambuṭṭhi and Goṇḍigāma tanks and the Khaṇḍarāja Vihāra, besides hospitals and almshouses for women in travail, the blind and the sick. He was murdered by his queen-consort, who had an intrigue with his younger brother, Mahānāma.¹