The Jetavana Monastery, clustered around the dagaba, includes all the features of a large monastery, and these have been individually marked on the map.

Pilimage – The Image-house (k) 

Outside the western gatehouse are the remains of a large building. Two tall stone doorframes mark the entrance to a pilimage or image house. Walking through the vestibule, the inner chamber is surrounded by a circumambulatory walk. In this chamber was the image, and the fragments of its lotus pedestal shows it to have been a standing statue about 12 meters high. It was probably of white limestone and a fire may have reduced limestone to ashes. Having paid his devotions to the image, the Buddhists could not turn their back on it, so in the vestibule they would have to turn to their right and leave by the side door. Above the Buddha image was a vaulted ceiling of brickwork. The building was 16 meters high and had tall, slim lines.

A Typical monks’ living unit (l) 

Running from the west gate of the dagaba towards the stream, is an ancient path, and on the other side of this from the image-house are the remains of typical monks’ living unit (l). A small gatehouse just outside the surrounding wall of the dagaba enters the outer courtyard. The inner-courtyard has buildings in the typical ‘five-of-dice’ pattern. Stone columns supported a second storey, and the monks slept two to a cell. The elder and more senior monks lived in the central building.

The hot baths (m) 

In the southeast corner of the monastery is a living unit containing a hot bath (m). The square bath has a paved floor, with a stone rim on which the monks sat. One of the duties of a novice, or younger monk, was to pour water over the senior monks while they were bathing, and the circular depressions in the stones nearby were for the cauldrons of hot water. Some stone slabs found in the surrounding buildings have long rectangular sockets that originally supported wooden staircases.

The ‘Buddhist’ railings (n) 

The beautiful stone fence (n) which is found to the south of the dagaba, is an example of an early Buddhist motif, based on a wooden prototype. The three railings of the fence symbolize the “Three Gems” of Buddhism the Buddha, the Teachings, and the Order of monks. Three railings protected early thupas, and here it is thought that they protected it is thought that they protected a Bodhi tree. Images of the Buddha were placed under the Bodhi tree and several reliquary stones with patterns of small squares cut in to the rock are to be found. They were filled with small offerings closed and placed underneath the pedestal of the statue. An exclusive limestone torso now in the museum was recovered from this site.

The Chapter House (o) 

The Uposathagara, or Chapter house of the Jetavana Monastery is found at the Southeast of the dagaba. In the chapter house the public business of the monastery took place, including communal prayer and meditation, and ‘preaching’ when the Buddhist texts were expounded. The chapter house was also the place where the monks had to meet every month and recite the rules of the order from the start to finish, and if they had broken any they had to confess. A dense group of columns always marks the site of a chapter house and it has been suggested that the assembly rooms of these buildings were upstairs.

The Refectory (p) 

Lying to the southeast of the dagaba, is refectory or dining hall of the monastery (p). The floor is stone flagged and there is a large ‘rice boat’ or trough, sufficient to feed over 3,000 monks. The smaller trough was for curry. Because of the difficulty of organizing distribution of food to such a large community, the salaka house must have been nearby. A ‘salaka’ was a slip of wood or ticket, which the monk surrendered in exchange for his meal.

A Pond (q) 

The remains of a large rectangular pond are found to the north of the dagaba. This was the central reservoir of water for the monastery.