“Abhayagiri. A major ancient monastic complex in *Anurädhapura, *Sri Lanka, also known as Uttaravihara. Founded by King Vattagāmaṇi Abhaya in the 1st century BCE it consisted of a monastery (vihāra) and a *stūpa, but the latter alone is now standing. According to tradition, when the king was fleeing from the Tamils, he came upon the Nigaṇṭha Giri, a Jain (see JAINISM) * ascetic who made insulting remarks about him. The king vowed that if he were returned to the throne he would build a Buddhist monastery on the spot. He fulfilled his vow, and the name of the monastery was a combination of his own name and that of the Nigantha. It is unlikely that Abhayagiri was important for a century or two after its foundation. Unlike the *Mahāvihāra, or ’Great Monastery’, erected earlier during the reign of King *Devānampiya Tissa (247–207 BCE) in the same city and given to the *Samgha, the Abhayagiri was given to an individual *monk. As a result, according to much later sources on which too much reliance should not be placed, a conflict developed between the monks of the Mahāvihāra the monks of Abhayagiri, allegedly focusing on the issue of whether monks could receive gold or silver, meaning wealth in general, but actually reflecting a struggle for control of * Buddhism on the island. Though for quite a long time the fraternities of the two monasteries seem to have lived side by side in amity, when the Abhayagiri monks openly adopted an alternative canonical literature (the heretical Vaitulya Pitaka) the animosity between the monks of the two establishments became very bitter and resulted in the heretical books being burnt and the destruction of the Mahāvihāra building. The two communities developed into separate schools, not to be united again for more than a millennium. Mahāvihāra residents were known as the Theriya school (Theriya* Nikāya), while Abhayagiri residents were referred to as the Dhammaruci school (see DHAMMARUCI NIKĀYA). In 1165 a council was held at Anurādhapura and reconciliation between rival schools was achieved. In contrast to the above account from the medieval chronicles, there is no actual evidence of any active conflict between the two institutions after the 3rd century CE. When Anurādhapura was abandoned around the 13th century, the history of Abhayagiri essentially ceased.” (PDoB)
(EoBDK – CMLJ)
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