• Kalyānī

The name of a river and of the district near its mouth in Ceylon. The Buddha visited the Kalyāni country in the eighth year after the Enlightenment, in company with five hundred monks, on the second day after the full-moon of Vesākha and, seated on the spot where the Kalyāni-Cetiya was later built, he preached to the Nāgas and their king Maniakkhika, at whose invitation he had come (Sp.i.89; Mhv.i.63, 75ff; Dpv.ii.42, 53; J. ii.128).

Once a king reigned in Kalyānī named Kalyani-Tissa, who had a daughter Vihāramahādevī. According to the legends connected with her, Kalyānī was at one time much further from the sea than it is now. The sea swallowed up several leagues of land (Mhv.Xxii.12ff). King Yatthāla-Tissa built a five-storied pāsāda in the town, which was later restored by Parakkamabāhu II (Cv.lxxxv.64).

The Kalyāni district formed the fighting base of several campaigns. E.g., Cv.lxi.35, 39; lxxii.151.