Sri Lankan Buddhist Deities

📖 Stories

• Mahinda's Mission and the Buddhistization of Sri Lanka
  **Sri Lanka** became a major center of Theravada Buddhism following the mission of **Mahinda** (son of Emperor Ashoka) in the 3rd century BCE. According to the Mahavamsa, Mahinda encountered King Devanampiya Tissa hunting in Mihintale and preached the **Cūlahattipadopamasutta** (Lesser Discourse on the Simile of the Elephant). The king converted, along with many nobles and eventually the entire island. Mahinda's sister **Sanghamitta** later arrived with a sapling from the original Bodhi Tree at Bodh Gaya, which was planted at Anuradhapura — this became the **Sri Mahabodhi**, still alive today and one of the oldest continuously worshiped sacred sites in the world. The **Kelaniya Raja Temple** marks where Buddha himself visited and preached, according to Sri Lankan tradition. The deity **Kelaniya Raja** (also called **Mani Khirih)** protects this site and the surrounding area. **Sathara Kanda Deva** and **Kanda Deva** are local protective deities incorporated into the Buddhist pantheon. Chinese pilgrims **Faxian** (5th century) and **Xuanzang** (7th century) both visited Sri Lanka and described the flourishing Buddhist monastic life, the sacred Bodhi tree, and the veneration of relics. **Ibn Battuta** (14th century) was impressed by the Buddhist devotion and the famous tooth relic. Today Sri Lanka has the world's oldest continuous Buddhist Sangha and Vesak celebrations among the most spectacular in the Buddhist world, with illuminated pandals (Vesak thorana) spanning miles.
  — Mahavamsa + Buddhist tradition + scholarly sources