• Ratanapāsāda

A building in the Abhayagiri vihāra, erected by King Kanitthatissa for Mahānāga Thera (Mhv.Xxxvi.8; for its identification see Cv.Trs.i.123, n.2).

Mahinda II. evidently rebuilt it at a cost of three hundred thousand kahāpanas, and installed in it a Buddha image worth sixty thousand. At the dedication festival, the king offered his whole kingdom to the image (Cv.xlviii.135f). Mahinda III. gave the revenue from the Getthumba Canal for the repairs of the pasāda (Cv.xlix.41).

In the reign of Sena I. the Pānidīyas, who invaded Ceylon, plundered the pāsāda and removed the jewels from the eyes of the image (Cv.l.43). Sena II. found the image itself removed from its pedestal and taken to Madhurā, and, after his victory over the Pānndiyas, he had it restored (Cv.li.22,49). When the people rose in rebellion against Udaya III., he took refuge in the Ratanapāsāda with his colleagues, but the people surrounded the building and they were forced to flee (Cv.liii.17).