Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Kantaka Chetiya
BUDDHIST TEMPLE
At the first landing a smaller flight of steps leads to this partly ruined dagoba off to the
right, one of the oldest at Mihintale. It's 12m high (originally more than 30m) and 130m
around its base. A Brahmi inscription found nearby records donations for the dagoba. It's
noteworthy for its friezes. Four stone flower altars stand at each of the cardinal points, and
surrounding these are well-preserved sculptures of dwarfs, geese and other figures.
While exactly who built it is open to conjecture, Devanampiya Tissa (r 247-207 BC)
had 68 cave monasteries built, and the dagoba would have been constructed near these.
King Laji Tissa (r 59-50 BC) enlarged it. So the dagoba was built sometime in between.
South of the Kantaka Chetiya, where a big boulder is cleft by a cave, if you look up
you'll see what is thought to be the oldest inscription in Sri Lanka, predating Pali in Sri
Lanka. The inscription dedicates the mountain's shelters to meditation, now and for etern-
ity. Through the cave, ledges on the cliff face acted as meditation retreats for the numerous
monks once resident here. There are around 70 different sites for contemplation.
Monks' Refectory & Relic House
RUIN
On the second landing is the monks' refectory with huge stone troughs that the lay follow-
ers kept filled with rice for the monks.
Nearby, at a place identified as the monastery's relic house, are two inscribed stone
slabs erected during the reign of King Mahinda IV (r 975-91). The inscriptions laid down
the rules relating to the relic house and the conduct of those responsible for it.
One inscription clearly states that nothing belonging to the relic house shall be lent or
sold. Another confirms the amount of land to be given in exchange for a reliable supply of
oil and wicks for lamps and flowers for offerings. Also known as the Mihintale tablets,
these inscribed stones define the duties of the monastery's many servants: which servants
gather firewood and cook, which servants cook but only on firewood gathered by others,
and so on.
There are also rules for monks: they should rise at dawn, clean their teeth, put on their
robes, meditate and then go to have their breakfast (boiled rice) at the refectory, but only
after reciting certain portions of the scriptures.
