Raw data
The 1000 acre Buddangala monastery is known to have been established by Pricess Chitra in 400 B.C. It said to be the oldest monastery in Sri Lankna and lies about 8 km from the town of Ampara and was later developed by King Saddhatissa (140-122 B.C). The monastery is situated in a mountain over 500 feet high. The Dagaba has been enshrined with the relics of Buddha and his two leading monks Seriyuth and Mugalan's remains. It is also said to have had several caves that were used for meditating by Arahath monks.
The Bricks used for some buildings suggest that some of the belong to the pre Common era. It is certain that the monastery was in very advanced condition during the 6th and 7th centuries http://ancientdeegavapi-ampara.blogspot.com/2011/03/ancient-buddhangala-in-ampara-with.html
In 1216, Kalingha Magha’s barbarians destroyed the monastery.
In 1964, a lone Buddhist monk named Dharmananda from Kalutara arrived in this ruined monastery. He cleared the jungle around Dagaba, and the image house. He cleaned the caves where the Arahath monks were meditating before so that new monks can live in them. http://www.angelfire.com/planet/heritagesl2/budhdhangala/budhdhangala.htm
The original name of Buddhangala is not known, one belief is that the name is derived due the shape of the rock formation, which looks like Buddha in a lying position. The tamils and the the muslims who now occupy the land surrounding the hermitage area calls this “Buddhankalei” and the current Sinhalese name Buddhangala could have been derived from this. http://amazinglanka.com/wp/buddhangala/
Input by:GitaG May 2015
Final data (and their sources)
Last updated: dd mmm yyyy
Page under construction
Lat/Long coordinates' accuracy:
The monastery in question is assumed to be situated actually no farther than 200 m / 2 km / 20 km from the point defined by the coordinates below.
General location of the XXXX monastery, XX.
lat=0.1 long=0.0
Mapping & images: Falling Rain Genomics (http://www.fallingrain.com), 2015.
Google Map link:
Final data - explanatory notes
1. Monastery's name
- Buddhangala monastery
2. Monastery's modern country & province
- Sri Lanka: Eastern Province
3. Monastery's alternative/historical names
- Buddangala - http://www.lankalibrary.com/heritage/temples/batti.htm
- Buddhankalei - http://amazinglanka.com/wp/buddhangala/
4. Monastery's lat/long coordinates
- Approx. Lat x Long y - based on visual identification of the site in maps/satellite imagery & Panoramio photographs, maps.google.com - tmciolek, date.
5. Other known nearby Buddhist monasteries
- Deegavapi Raja Maha monastery
6. Modern name of the known nearest city, town, or village
- Ampara
7. The settlement's alternative/historical names
- [missing data]
8. The settlement's coordinates
- Approx. Lat xx Long yy - source
9. Monastery's major Buddhist tradition
- Theravada
10. Monastery's Buddhist sub-tradition
- [missing data]
11. Date-early
- MBM chrono-tag <=0200 –GitaG 17 Sept. 2015
- <=0200 0200-32c 0233-66c 0267-99c 0300-32c 0333-66c 0367-99c 0400-32c 0433-66c 0467-99c 0500-32c 0533-66c 0567-99c 0600-32c 0633-66c 0667-99c 0700-32c 0733-66c 0767-99c 0800-32c 0833-66c 0867-99c 0900-32c 0933-66c 0967-99c 1000-32c 1033-66c 1067-99c 1100-32c 1133-66c 1167-99c 1200=> dated-el
12. Date-intermediate
- [missing data]
13. Date-late
- MBM chrono-tag: 1200=> GitaG 17 Sept. 2015
14. Details of contacts with other monasteries
- [missing data]
15. Type of evidence regarding the monastery
- Archaelogical, architectural, inscriptions
16. Additional notes
- [missing data] (incl. details of the size of the monastic population)
17. Corrections & addenda to this page were kindly provided by
- [missing data]
18. Known monks and nuns associated with this monastery
19. Available Printed Literature
- Dhammika, Ven S. 2008. Sacred Island: A Buddhist pilgrim's guide to Sri Lanka. Kandy:Buddhist Publications Society.
- [bibliographical details of the Book/Article 2]
- [bibliographical details of the Book/Article 3]
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