Raw data
"The earliest pottery imports belong to the Tang dynasty (AD 618-906) (Pramathilaka 1990). Chinese ceramics are found on both inland and coastal sites. Inland sites include Buddhist monasteries such as Jetavanaramaya, Abahayagiriya and Mihintale in north central province in Sri Lanka."
http://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/jayasingha/index.html
Input by: tmciolek, 24 Jan 2009
Town 7 Miles north-east of Anurādhapura, Sri Lanka. Its great spiritual importance to the Buddhists of the island is due to the fact that it is here that Mahinda, son of Emperor Aśoka, met King Devānampiya Tissa and converted him to Buddhism, thus officially introducing the religion to the country.
http://www.answers.com/topic/mihintale
In 247 B.C. Buddhism was first introduced to Sri Lanka on the mountain of Mihintale. Since then, various kings of Sri Lanka have blessed this rock with magnificent masterpieces of architecture. These include a hospital, a monastic complex, stupas and dagobas. While some of these structures are in an almost perfect state of preservation, some others are in complete ruin. The most spectacular of these is the Kantaka Chaitiya, which displays some of the finest architecture of the early Anuradhapura era.
The climb to the summit consists of almost a thousand steps.
http://www.srilanka.com/travel/traveldetail/TL00252
Mihintale, Sri Lanka Page
World:Sri Lanka:North Central Province
Latitude 8.3500 Longitude 80.5000
http://www.fallingrain.com/world/CE/30/Mihintale.html
Final data (and their sources)
Lat/Long coordinates' accuracy:
The monastery in question is assumed to be situated actually no farther than 2 km from the point defined by the coordinates below.
General location of the Mihintale monastery, SL.
lat=8.3500 long=80.5000
Mapping & images: Falling Rain Genomics (http://www.fallingrain.com), 2009.
Google Map link:
Final data - explanatory notes
1. Monastery's name
final data ….
2. Monastery's modern country & province
- Sri Lanka:North Central Province
3. Monastery's alternative/historical names
final data ….
4. Monastery's lat/long coordinates
- Approx. Lat 8.3500 Long 80.5000 http://www.fallingrain.com/world/CE/30/Mihintale.html
5. Other known nearby Buddhist monasteries
final data ….
6. Modern name of the known nearest city, town, or village
- Anuradhapura - http://www.srilanka.com/travel/traveldetail/TL00252
7. The settlement's alternative/historical names
- Aneuradhapura http://www.fallingrain.com/world/CE/30/Anuradhapura.html
- Anuradhapur http://www.fallingrain.com/world/CE/30/Anuradhapura.html
- Anuradhapura http://www.fallingrain.com/world/CE/30/Anuradhapura.html
8. The settlement's coordinates
- Exactly Lat 8.3500 Long 80.3833 http://www.fallingrain.com/world/CE/30/Anuradhapura.html
9. Monastery's major Buddhist tradition
10. Monastery's Buddhist sub-tradition
final data ….
11. Date-early
12. Date-intermediate
13. Date-late
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14. Details of contacts with other monasteries
final data ….
15. Type of evidence regarding the monastery
- inscriptions, architecture, texts
16. Additional notes
final data (incl. details of the size of the monastic population)….
17. Corrections & addenda to this page were kindly provided by
final data ….
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