The Abhayagiri Monastery & Dagaba

Established by King Vattagamini in 88 BC, the Uttravihara (Northern Monastery) is now known as the Abhayagiri Monastery. This was a result of the King being jeered by a Jain hermit, while fleeing from from the South Indians, after losing his throne. He spent 14 years 'in the wilderness'.When he returned to power, he destroyed the Jain Monastery, and around the the Jotiya shrine, he built a Buddhist monastery.It was the largest monastery in Sri Lanka for about 600 years. It housed 5000 monks in its grounds of more than 500 acres (235 hectares), and was at the time the most powerful institution in the country after the king.