Mihintale

Why Visit

A quieter, less-visited counterpart to the main Cultural Triangle sites, reached by a long stone stairway through forest to a hilltop stupa with wide views.

A rocky hilltop northeast of Anuradhapura, traditionally regarded as the site where Buddhism was introduced to Sri Lanka in the 3rd century BC.

History

Mihintale holds a founding place in Sri Lankan Buddhist history: tradition holds that in 247 BCE, the monk Mahinda — son of the Indian emperor Ashoka — met King Devanampiya Tissa here while the king was out deer hunting, at a rock outcrop still known as Aradhana Gala ("Invitation Rock"), and converted him to Buddhism on the spot. That meeting is generally regarded as the moment Buddhism was introduced to the island, after which it spread from Mihintale to become the dominant religion and cultural force in Sri Lankan history. The hill was developed over subsequent centuries into a large monastic complex; its ruins include what archaeologists consider one of the oldest identifiable hospital sites in the world, complete with a stone medicine-grinding trough for preparing Ayurvedic treatments for resident monks. The stone stairway, the Sinha Pokuna bathing pool carved with a lion's head spout, and the summit's Ambasthala Dagoba (built on the spot of Mahinda's meeting with the king) all date from various periods of royal patronage that followed.