Ancient Mihintale Monastic Complex
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 | This article relies on a single source. (November 2026) |
| Ancient Mihintale Monastic Complex | |
|---|---|
 View of the ruins found in Mihintale | |
| Location | Mihintale, Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka |
| History | |
| Built | 3rd Century BC |
| Abandoned | By 11th century the monastic complex was abandoned due to the fall of Anuradhapura kingdom |
| Site notes | |
| Elevation | 1014 feet |
| Area | 450 acres |
Architectural style | Anuradhapura style |
| Excavation dates | 1890 |
| Archaeologists | H.C.P Bell, Senarath Paranavithana |
| Condition | The complex is in ruins, but has also been conserved |
| Owner | Department of Archaeology (Sri Lanka) |
The Ancient Mihintale Monastic Complex (Sinhala: පැරණි මිහින්තලේ ආරාම සංකීර්ණය) also known as Mihindutalava and Segiriya was the first Buddhist Centre of Sri Lanka, built by king Devanampiya Tissa in 3rd century BC as a royal garden but was later expanded into a monastery complex.
Etymology
Mihintale is a hill range consisting of 4 different hills -
- Mihintale kanda (Hill of plateau of Mahinda)
- Vehera kanda (Hill of elephants stupa)
- Rajagiri Lena kanda (Hill of the kings rock cave)
- Anayikkote kanda (Hill of fort of elephan
Mihintale monastic complex was called called as Ambastale, Chetiya Pabbata, Sesgiriya and Chetigiriya.
Background
In the 6th century BC, Gautama Buddha, accompanied by Arhats, visited and meditated in Mihintale; for this reason, Mihintale is considered sacred to Buddhists and it is considered as Solosmasthana .
Mahinda Thera and his followers landed in Mihintale during king Devanampiya tissa’s reign in 3rd century BC on a Poson poya day, before Mahinda Thera arrived, the king had come to his royal garden for the water sport festival called Karthika ulela and to hunt, while the king was hunting for deer, Mahinda Thera called the king by his personal name Tissa, the king looked towards Mahinda thera’s direction, Mahinda Thera introduced himself and mentioned that he came to Sri Lanka due to the request from the king to introduce Buddhism to Sri Lanka.
History
Multiple monasteries and other buildings such as ponds were constructed by king Devanampiya tissa and his brother Uttiya, from king Devanampiya tissa’s time period to king Keerthi Sri Rajasinghe’s time, constructions and expansions were done in Mihintale monastic complex.
Arahat Mahinda preached a sutta called Mahappamada, indicating that a Buddhist monastery to be built, the king prepared 68 caves for the personal use for the monks in Missaka Pabbata, the king also wanted to build a stupa to enshrine Gautama Buddha’s scared relics, emperor Ashoka sent the alms bowl relic, right tooth relic and the collar bone relic of the Buddha, stupas was built for the relics in Mihintale and Anuradhapura.
A sampling from the Sri Maha Bodhi was planted at Chetiyagiri in Mihintale, after Mahinda Thera passed away some of his relics were enshrined at Mihindu seya, Arahat Sanghamitta established a nunnery in Mihintale.
References
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