Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c31.1394

v2.c31.1394

The Mahā Thūpa has been a place of pilgrimage for Buddhists from the time of its building down to the present day, even when the place was deserted and its courtyards overgrown with creepers.²⁵ There seems to have been a hall for pilgrims to the west of the cetiya.²⁶ When the Buddha’s sāsana disappears, all the Relics of the Buddha deposited in various cetiyas all over Ceylon will gather together at the Mahācetiya, and from there will go to the Rajāyatana-cetiya in Nāgadīpa, thence to the Mahābodhipallaṅka, where all the Relics, assembled from everywhere, will take the form of the Buddha seated at the foot of the Bodhi-tree. Then they will be consumed by self-generated flames.²⁷