Mihintale Assembly Hall, also known as Sannipata Salawa (Sinhala: මිහින්තලේ සන්නිපාත ශාලාව), is a ruined building located in the ancient monastery of Mihintale in Anuradhapura District, Sri Lanka. It has been identified as the assembly hall of the Mihintale monastery where monks assembled to discuss matters of common interests pertaining to the monastic life. It has been used as a preaching hall as well.
The building is square in shape and the length of one side is 18.55 m (Wikramagamage, 2004). It has been constructed on a raised platform of about 1.93 m tall (Wikramagamage, 2004). The entire building is believed to had been covered by a roof supported on 48 pillars (Wikramagamage, 2004). The raised seat at the centre of the hall is supposed to be the chair used by the head priest or the chairman of the assembly. The square-shaped chair measured 8.08 m on one side (Wikramagamage, 2004). Four entrances accompanied by Sandakada Pahana (moonstones), Muragala (guard stones), and Korawak Gala (wingstones) provide access to the hall.
See also
References
1) Wikramagamage, C., 2004. Heritage of Rajarata: Major natural, cultural,
and historic sites. Colombo. Central Bank of Sri Lanka. p.167.
Location Map
This page was last updated on 4 October 2022