Abahayagiri stupa which is recognized as the largest monastery complex in Anuradhapura Sri Lanka is a great opportunity to travelers who are seeking for Sri Lankan Heritage sites . It is another vulnerable pilgrimage site which covers an area about 200 hectares. It was about 115 m in height. But due to the loss of its pinnacle and reconstructions now it has reduced to 75 m in height and found as one of the largest brick buildings in ancient world.. King Valagamba so called as Vattagamini Abhaya build this establishment in the 1st century. As prescribed in written records of Sri Lanka , abhayagiri establishment was an international institute and a royal capital .
The name Abhaya giri means “The hill of Protection’.it is important to highlight that the ‘Giri’ doesn’t mean a name of a Jain priest as some belief. The Chinese monk Fa hiiyun who was also a Buddhist explorer and a researcher had also visited the dagoba in 412 AD and recorded, evidenced that there were about 4000 monks in residence at Abhayagiri complex. There are four entrances to the Dagoba. At the entrance, you can meet two guardian statues of Samakanidi and Padmanidi. It is believed that the stupa was built over a foot print of Gautama Lord Buddha. Further, Still existing columns can be seen in the area which supposed to be of a vatadage. A large footprint of Lord Buddha can be seen in the northern side of the dagoba. Beautiful moonstones can be found at the western and eastern steps too. The Eastern Vahalkada is carved with lions , bulls, and elephants while the western vahalkada is decorated with carved Sinhala floral patterns. Other than that portentous balustrades and ruined bathing ponds can be found at the premises.
Once King Valagamba was defeated by the disastrous South Indian invaders in 88 B.C and had to exit from the Anuradhapura. On his way, a Jain monk named Giri, shouted ‘the great black Sinhalese is passing away’. In fact, it is a witness to prove that Sri Lanka had a conspicuous service of sharing religious information within other countries. However, this incident motivated the King to make a Buddhist monastery over that Jain hermitage when he was capable of rescuing the kingdom from Dravidian invaders. It is notable that the monastery had many contacts with java, india and Bururma. The complex consisted of a refectory and an Arama where the monks have used to live and latrine purposes.