Devanampiya Tissa

Devanampiya Tissa was a king of Anuradhapura in the third century BCE. Sri Lankan chronicles associate his reign with the arrival of Buddhism and the establishment of the Mahavihara.

Mahinda: A Buddhist monk traditionally identified as the son of Ashoka, credited with bringing Buddhism to Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan chronicles describe Mahinda meeting Tissa and teaching him Buddhism.
Anuradhapura: An ancient city in northern Sri Lanka that served as a major political and religious center for centuries. Tissa ruled from this city, where Buddhist institutions grew during his reign.
Sri Maha Bodhi: A sacred fig tree in Anuradhapura grown from a branch of the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya. Tradition dates the planting of its ancestor in Sri Lanka to Tissa’s reign.
Dipavamsa: An early Pali chronicle of Sri Lankan Buddhist history, composed before the Mahavamsa. It gives an earlier chronicle tradition for the Buddhist mission associated with Tissa.
Ashoka: The Mauryan emperor whose reign saw the expansion of Buddhism and the dispatch of missions beyond India. Tradition connects Ashoka’s Buddhist mission to Sri Lanka with Tissa’s conversion.
Anuradhapura Kingdom: A historical kingdom in Sri Lanka centered on the city of Anuradhapura. Tissa’s kingship belongs to the early history of this kingdom.
Thuparamaya: A stupa in Anuradhapura traditionally regarded as the first Buddhist stupa built in Sri Lanka. Its construction is attributed to Tissa after Buddhism reached his kingdom.
Mahavamsa Tika: A medieval Pali commentary that explains and expands upon the Mahavamsa. Its explanations show how later commentators interpreted the chronicle’s account of Tissa.
Mihintale: A hill near Anuradhapura associated with the meeting between Mahinda and Devanampiya Tissa. The chronicles place the defining encounter of Tissa’s reign at this site.
Theravada: A Buddhist tradition whose surviving canonical texts are primarily in Pali. The Buddhist community established in Tissa’s era became central to Sri Lanka’s Theravada history.

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