- Jetavanaramaya
The Jetavanaramaya is a
stupa , located in the ruins of Jetavana Monastery in the sacred city ofAnuradhapura ,Sri Lanka .The Stupa
King Mahasen (273-301 AD) has the honour of being the creator of the largest stupa in
Sri Lanka . A part of a sash or belt tied by the Buddha is believed to be the relic that is enshrined here.At a height of over 400 feet (120 m), it is one of the tallest
stupas in the world (the tallest beingPhra Pathom Chedi , Thailand), largest brick building ever built, and 3rd largest structure in the ancient world, after the two largest of theGreat Pyramids of Giza . Approximately 93,300,000 baked bricks were used to build the stupa (Ratnayake 1993). This stupa belongs to the Sagalika sect. The compound covers approximately 8 acres (5.6 hectares) and once housed over 3000 Buddhist monks. One side of the stupa is convert|576|ft|m long, and the flights of stairs at each of the four sides of it are convert|28|ft|m wide. The doorpost to the shrine, which is situated in the courtyard, is convert|27|ft|m high. The stupa has a 6 m deep foundation, and sits on bedrock. Stone inscriptions in the courtyard give the names of people who donated to the building effort.It is said by the British archaeologists who excavated the site that the amount of bricks used to build the stupa is enough to build a three-meter high wall, running all the way from Edinburgh to London.Fact|date=February 2007
ee also
*
Ancient Constructions of Sri Lanka
*Atamasthana
*Buddhism
*Mahawamsa References
* "This page incorporates content from Dr. Rohan Hettiarachchi's [http://www.lankalibrary.com/] used with permission of website owner."Ratnayake, Hema (1993) Jetavana. In "The Cultural Triangle of Sri Lanka". Paris: Unesco Publishing/CCF.
External links
* [http://discover.lankanest.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=46&Itemid=75.html/ Discover Sri Lanka - More information & images about Jetavana Dagaba]
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