Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya

Part of a series on
Theravāda Buddhism
Buddhism
History Pre-sectarian Buddhism Early schools Sthaviras Buddhist councils Vibhajjavāda Mahāvihāra Tambapaṇṇiya Dīpavaṃsa Mahāvaṃsa Pali Text Society
Key figures Bhāṇaka Moggaliputta-Tissa Mahinda Sanghamitta Tissa Buddhaghoṣa Buddhadatta Dhammapāla Parakramabahu I Mahākassapa (12th century) Sāriputta (12th century) Anawrahta Ram Khamhaeng Sumangala Thera Anagarika Dharmapala Mongkut Vajirananavarorasa Ledi Sayadaw U Nu U Nārada Mahasi Sayadaw U Ba Khin S. N. Goenka Mun Bhuridatta Ajahn Chah Maha Ghosananda Kripasaran Mahapragya Pragyananda K. Sri Dhammananda Narada Mahathera Asoka Weeraratna Walpola Rahula Jayatilleke Kalupahana U Dhammaloka Nyanatiloka Nanamoli Nyanaponika Bhikkhu Bodhi Ajahn Sumedho Ajahn Brahm Analayo Varanggana Vanavichayen Dhammananda Bhikkhuni Ayya Tathaaloka Ayya Khema Kee Nanayon Dipa Ma
Literature Pāli Tipiṭaka Paracanonical Commentaries Sub-commentaries Paritta Visuddhimagga Abhidhammattha-saṅgaha Vimuttimagga Abhidhammāvatāra Yogāvacara's manual
Orders (Nikāya) Thailand, Laos, Cambodia Mahā Dhammayuttika Myanmar Thudhamma Shwegyin Mahādvāra Mūladvāra Veḷuvana Anaukchaung-dvāra Hngettwin Gaṇavimutti Dhammayuttika Sri Lanka Amarapura–Rāmañña Siam Bangladesh Saṅgharāja Mahāsthabir
Traditions Pariyatti, paṭipatti, paṭivedha Sādhu Abhidhamma Kammaṭṭhāna Vassa Pavāraṇā Vipassana movement Thai Forest Sri Lankan Forest Esoteric Theravāda Dhammakaya
Festivals Vesākha Pūjā Māgha Pūjā Āsāḷha Pūjā Kaṭhina Abhidhamma Day Uposatha
Higher education MBU MCRU IBC ITBMU SPSU BPU Sihanouk Sihamoni CSC Sangha College Kertarajasa Syailendra Nalanda DDIBU
v t e

Part of a series on
Buddhism
Glossary Index Outline
History Timeline The Buddha Pre-sectarian Buddhism Councils Silk Road transmission of Buddhism Decline in the Indian subcontinent Later Buddhists Buddhist modernism
Dharma Concepts Four Noble Truths Noble Eightfold Path Dharma wheel Five Aggregates Impermanence Suffering Not-self Dependent Origination Middle Way Emptiness Morality Karma Rebirth Saṃsāra Cosmology
Buddhist texts Buddhavacana Early Texts Tripiṭaka Mahayana Sutras Pāli Canon Sanskrit literature Tibetan canon Chinese canon Post-canon
Practices Three Jewels Buddhist Paths to liberation Five precepts Perfections Meditation Philosophical reasoning Devotional practices Merit making Recollections Mindfulness Wisdom Sublime abidings Aids to Enlightenment Monasticism Lay life Buddhist chant Pilgrimage Vegetarianism
Nirvāṇa Awakening Four Stages Arhat Pratyekabuddha Bodhisattva Buddha
Traditions Theravāda Pāli Mahāyāna Hinayana Chinese Vajrayāna Tibetan Navayana Newar
Buddhism by country Bhutan Brazil Cambodia China India Indonesia Japan Korea Laos Malaysia Mongolia Myanmar New Zealand Russia Singapore US Sri Lanka Taiwan Thailand Tibet Vietnam
Buddhism portal
v t e

The Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya was an important mahavihara or large Buddhist monastery for Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka. King Devanampiya Tissa of Anuradhapura (247–207 BCE) founded it in his capital city of Anuradhapura.^[1] Monks such as Buddhaghosa (4th to 5th century CE) and Dhammapala, who wrote commentaries on the Tipitaka and texts such as the Visuddhimagga, which are central to Theravada Buddhist doctrine, established Theravada Mahaviharan of the Tambapaṇṇiya (Pali; Sanskrit: Tāmraparṇīya or Tāmraśāṭīya) orthodoxy here. Monks living at the Mahavihara were referred to as Mahaviharavasins.

In the 5th century, the "Mahavihara" was possibly the most sophisticated university in southern or eastern Asia. Many international scholars visited and learned many disciplines under highly structured instruction.^[2]