The Mahavihara or The Great Monastery was first given to the order of Buddhist monks by king Tissa when Mahinda came to Anuradhapura. Originally the area to the south of the City was laid out as Royal Gardens by Kind Mutasiva. The Nandana Gardens which correspond to the area of the Jetawana monastery, mark the site where Mahinda first preached to the masses. The Bodhi tree was planted at the entrance to the Royal Palace. King Tissa, in a ceremony observed by Fa Hien, to be still in use in the 5^th century A.D., ploughed the boundaries with a golden plough and gave the land enclosed to the monks of the Mahavihara. Because of its long history of guarding the traditions of Theravada Buddhism, and because it’s monks kept the most sacred shrines at Anuradhapura, the Mahavihara was the most important monastery of the city.

The Monastic buildings of the Mahavihara

The Mahavihara had buildings donated to it by many Sri Lankan kings. What ever their personal benefits, the goodwill of the monks who preserved the orthodox traditions of the Great Monastery was important to them. The essential design of the Mahavihara is therefore unclear, but interesting buildings and beautiful sculptures are to be found within its boundaries, and some of them are described here.

Bathing Pond (b) 

To the West of the Mahathupa is a restored bathing pond. (b). The walls of the pond descend in stepped stone slabs to the bottom, which is of solid rock. Monks generally bathed on appointed days of the week, and hot baths are also found at various places in Anuradhapura, including the Jetavana (m).

Moonstone (c) & Bodhi Tree Shrine (d)

Decorated ‘moonstones’ are usually found at the entrance to a pilimage or image-house, where a Buddha figure was worshipped. The significance of the moonstone is discussed elsewhere (see No.16). The balustrades on either side of the moonstone represented makaras, mythical beasts of Sri Lanka, that combine the features of a crocodile with those of a dragon. The mound to the west (d), by the roadside, was probably a Bodhi tree shrine, a platform or building built around the base of the bass.

Moon stone (e) 

A fine moonstone with a very lively animal scroll is seen at (e). This complex is an example of the common ‘five-of-dice’ design used in the monasteries at Anuradhapura – a central building surrounded by four smaller buildings, built in square.

Monastery Building (f)

Entering monastery (f) from the track, which marks the ancient road from the Mahathupa to the Thuparama, is a gatehouse. On either side of the gate, monks would have slept. Inside the monastery, in the first courtyard, the building to the right is probably a bathhouse. In the second, inner courtyard are the monks’ living quarters arranged in a ‘five-of-dice’ pattern. The Dragon balustrades are profusely carved, and on the southern Dragon, amongst other scenes, a group of monkeys watch a fight between a cobra and a mongoose.

Image-house and Hospital Buildings (g) 

Two very beautiful guard stones, which originally served to protect the shrine from evil (No15), are at the entranceway to a building that may have been the chapter house of the Thuparama monastery. Just to the south and east lie a group of ruins, probably a hospital, and a medicine trough can be seen. The medicine trough, which looks like a stone coffin, was filled with a brew of herbs, and the patient lay in it. Similar troughs, but made of wood, are used by ayurvedic doctors in Sri Lanka today.

A Shrine (h) 

A shrine just to the south east of Thuparama shows a complete entrance. With it’s moonstone, guard stones and Dragon. This building was an image house, and is designed in a way that the worshippers can circumambulate, or walk around the statue of Buddha. The capitals of the columns are carved with a unique design.

The Potters Pond (i) 

Outside the south gate of the citadel (ancient city) there was a village where the potters lived. They took their clay and water from a pond, which is still visible. We know that they had a market here, and apart from household utensils, they probably made tiles, the lamps and terracotta offering figures, which can be seen in the museum.

The Mayura Pirivena (j)  

A group of columns with attractively carved dwarf figures is found in close proximity to the Bodhi tree (j). These may be the ruins of the Mayura Pirivena, a monastery given over to the senior scholars, built by Buddhadasa in the 4^th century. The great scholar Buddhagosa worked underneath the modern Archaeological Circuit Bungalow nearby.