Tanovana monastery, (in) Anuradhapura, North Central Province, SL

Raw data

"The Golden Age of Building marked the period of building vast monastery complexes, among them some of the tallest buildings in the ancient world. The Jetavanaramaya dagoba of the city still reigns as the tallest brick structure in the world. The Maha Vihara, founded by King Devanampiya Tissa in 249 B.C.E., centered around the orthodox Theravadins. The heterdox Mahayanists founded the Abhayagiri Vihara. King Mahasena (275-310 B.C.E.) built the Jetavanaramaya located in between the Maha Vihara and the Abhayagiri Monasteries. In the suburbs of the city Buddhists constructed major monasteries with their gigantic stupas including the Maha Thupa, the Bodhi Tree and Thuparama of the Maha Vihara stood to the south of the city. The Abhayagiri to the north, the Pubbarama to the east, the Tanovana to the north-west and the Jetavanaramaya to the south-east." - http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/anuradhapura

Final data (and their sources)

Last updated: 19 Jul 2014

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.

Location of Tanovana monastery, Sri Lanka.

General location of the Tanovana monastery, Sri Lanka.
Lat 8.3731 Long 80.3755
Mapping & images: Falling Rain Genomics (http://maps.fallingrain.com), 2009.


Google Map link:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=8.3731+80.3755+(Approx.%20loc.%20of%20the%20Tanovana%20monastery,%20SL)&ll=8.3731,80.3755&spn=05.0,05.0&t=k&hl=en


Final data - explanatory notes

1. Monastery's name

  • Tanovana

2. Monastery's modern country & province

  • Sri Lanka:North Central Province

3. Monastery's alternative/historical names

  • [missing data]

4. Monastery's lat/long coordinates

  • Approx. Lat 8.3731 Long 80.3755 - based on the visual identification of the most PROBABLE site in satellite imagery, maps.google.com - tmciolek, 27 Sep 2012.

5. Other known nearby Buddhist monasteries


6. Modern name of the known nearest city, town, or village


7. The settlement's alternative/historical names


8. The settlement's coordinates


9. Monastery's major Buddhist tradition


10. Monastery's Buddhist sub-tradition

  • [missing data]

11. Date-early

MBM chrono-tag <=0200 - tmciolek 19 Jul 2014
<=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 1100-32p dated-el


12. Date-intermediate

  • [missing data]

13. Date-late

  • Deserted soon after 1070 A.D. when the capital (together with its civilian population and monks) has shifted from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruva for strategic reasons - Kulatunga (1999:3-4)

MBM chrono-tag 1000-32c 1033-66c 1067-99c - tmciolek 19 Jul 2014


14. Details of contacts with other monasteries

  • [missing data]

15. Type of evidence regarding the monastery

  • [missing data]

16. Additional notes

  • [missing data]

17. Corrections & addenda to this page were kindly provided by

  • [missing data]

18. Available Printed Literature

  • [bibliographical details of the Book/Article 1]
  • [bibliographical details of the Book/Article 2]
  • [bibliographical details of the Book/Article 3]

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