• Rāmagāma

A Koliyan village on the banks of the Ganges.

Its inhabitants claimed and obtained a share of the Buddha's relics, over which they erected a thūpa (D.ii.167; Bu.xxviii.3; Dvy.380).

This thūpa was later destroyed by floods, and the urn, with the relics, was washed into the sea. There the Nāgas, led by their king, Mahākāla, received it and took it to their abode in Mañjerika where a thūpa was built over them, with a temple attached, and great honour was paid to them.

When Dutthagāmani built the Mahā Thūpa and asked for relics to be enshrined therein, Mahinda sent Sonuttara to the Nāga world to obtain these relics, the Buddha having ordained that they should ultimately be enshrined in the Mahā Thūpa. But Mahākāla was not willing to part with them, and Sonuttara had to use his iddhi power to obtain them. A few of the relics were later returned to the Nāgas for their worship. For details see Mhv.xxxi.18ff.