Chaitya Parvata

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Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

Chaitya Parvata (चैत्य पर्वत) is a mountain in Sri Lanka mentioned in Mahavansa. It has been identified with mountain Mihintale - the cradle of Buddhism in Sri Lanka.[1]

Origin

Variants

History

Mihintale is a mountain peak near Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka. It is believed by Sri Lankans to be the site of a meeting between the Buddhist monk Mahinda and King Devanampiyatissa which inaugurated the presence of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. It is now a pilgrimage site, and the site of several religious monuments and abandoned structures.

In Sinhala Mihin-Thalé literally means the “plateau of Mihindu”. This plateau is the flat terrain on top of a hill from where Arahat Mihindu was supposed to have called King Devanampiyatissa, by the King's first name to stop him shooting a deer in flight. Hence, “Mihin Thalé” is a specifically Sinhala term.

This is said have been called Cetiyagiri or Sagiri, even though it was more popularly known as Mihintale - the cradle of Buddhism in Sri Lanka.

Chetiyagiri in Sanchi Inscriptions

Chetiyagiri is mentioned by Cunningham[2] in an inscription at the Buddhist Stupa of Sanchi of the Ashoka period as under:

1. Devānam(piya) Magadhe (raja).

2. . . (a)bhi(vādemā)nam Chetiyagiri.

3. . tikhi-cha(Dha)magiri . ikeye sangham.

4. bhokhati-bhikhunābhikhāmavisedāto.

5. nidu . ti sanani . . chhava annā

6. Sasivi(ye) petaviye. Ichhahime Sān-

7. -ti Sangham samage milathitike siyāti.

The drift of this inscription, at least as I understand it, seems to be the following- :—

" Devanampriya, king- of Magadha, offers his salutation to the community of Chaityagiri (and perhaps to that of Dharmagiri also) . . . with a gift of food for the Bhikshus, much emaciated (with their austerities ?) . . . and prays that the Santi community may always be united."

In my account of the great Sanchi Tope I have already identified the present name of Sanchi with the Sanskrit Sānti, which I presume was the name of the great Vihar on the Chetiyagiri, or "Hill of Chaityas" If my reading of Dhamagiri he correct, we may identify the " hill of religion" in the long spur which stretches northward as far as Kānākhera. This hill is still covered with ruins, which no doubt once formed a part of the vast religious establishment of Sanchi-kānākhera.

चैत्य पर्वत

विजयेन्द्र कुमार माथुर[3] ने लेख किया है ...चैत्य पर्वत (AS, p.344) बौद्ध ग्रंथ महावंश 16, 17 में उल्लिखित है, जिसकी रचना 'भदन्त महानामा' द्वारा सम्भवत: पाँचवीं-छ्ठी शती. ई. में की गई थी। यह पर्वत श्रीलंका में स्थित बताया गया है। इस पर्वत का अभिज्ञान 'मिहिन्ताल' पर्वत से किया गया है।

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