Mahapali Alms-Hall Mahapali Alms-Hall or Mahapali Refectory (Sinhala: මහාපාලි දාන ශාලාව) is a ruined building located in the Inner City of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. History Mahapali
was the royal alms hall where the daily alms were provided for the
monks at the king's expense during the Anuradhapura Period (Nicholas,
1963). The term "Mahapali" may have derived from the custom of monks
coming for their food in a queue ( Pela )
according to their seniority (Jayasuriya, 2016). Two 10th-century inscriptions found on the large stone canoe in the alms hall contain the
word Maha-pela which means the "great queue" (Nicholas, 1963). The practice to supply meals for the monks from the royal kitchen was begun since the time of King Devanampiyatissa [(247-207 B.C.) Jayasuriya, 2016]. Therefore, Devanampiyatissa is credited with constructing the original Mahapali alms hall adjacent to the royal palace (Nicholas, 1963; Paranavitana, 1936). Since then, the Mahapali alms hall was maintained, r…
