Region: South Asia · Coordinates: 8.324, 80.413 · 38 events
| Year | Source | Account |
|---|---|---|
| 543 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | Vijaya founded a city at Tambapanni, and the ministers founded the villages of Anuradhagama, Upatissagama, Ujeni, Uruvela and Vijitapura. tradition |
| 504 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | Panduvasudeva of Sihapura landed at the mouth of the Mahakandara disguised as a mendicant, and the ministers made him king of Lanka. tradition |
| 474 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | When Pandukabhaya was born, Panduvasudeva died after reigning 30 years, and Abhaya was consecrated. tradition |
| 457 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | Pandukabhaya crossed the Ganges (Mahaveli) and stayed four years on Mount Dolla, then pursued his uncles, defeated them on this bank and held the camp for two years. tradition |
| 437 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | By a stratagem of a yakkhini, Pandukabhaya attacked his eight uncles and their army and piled up heaps of skulls. tradition |
| 437 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | In the palace of Anuradha, husband of his great-aunt, Pandukabhaya founded the capital Anuradhapura as the astrologer had foretold. tradition |
| 437 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | Pandukabhaya washed his uncles' parasols in pond water, had himself consecrated, and made Suvannapali his queen. tradition |
| 307 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | Mahinda and companions flew to Anuradhapura and landed at the first stupa site east of the city; the king offered food at the palace, and Queen Anula heard the teaching. tradition |
| 307 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | Devanampiya Tissa donated the Mahameghavana forest to the Sangha, and the earth quaked the moment the water was poured. tradition |
| 307 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | At the Kamba river ferry, Devanampiya Tissa plowed a round furrow with a plow, fixing the boundary of the Mahavihara in one day. tradition |
| 306 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | Asoka's envoys re-consecrated Devanampiya Tissa as king of Lanka on the full moon of Vesak. tradition |
| 306 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | Devanampiya Tissa planted the Bodhi tree in the Mahameghavana forest in Anuradhapura, and eight shoots sprouted; they were transplanted to eight places, including Jambukola and Tivakka villages. tradition |
| 260 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | King Uttiya carried the remains through the Mahavihara and cremated them at the funeral pyre, then built the Isibhumiangana cetiya. tradition |
| 259 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | The elder nun Sanghamitta attained parinibbana at Hatthalakka monastery in the ninth year of King Uttiya, aged 59; the king cremated her east of Thuparama. tradition |
| 205 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | Elara, a Tamil noble from the Chola country, defeated Asela and ruled Anuradhapura justly for 44 years. tradition |
| 205 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | Gamani and his younger brother Tissa fought a great battle at Kulanganiya-pitthi, and thousands of Gamani's soldiers died. tradition |
| 161 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | Gamani encamped south of Mount Kasa near Anuradhapura, dug a pond, and made the offering of water to the sacred stupa. tradition |
| 161 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | Suranimila killed Dighajantu; Gamani, riding Kandula, met Elara at the south gate of the capital and killed him, unifying Lanka. tradition |
| 161 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | Gamani held Elara's funeral on the spot where he fell, raised a monument there, and had it honored. tradition |
| 158 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | Gamani built the nine-storied Lohapasada according to the picture of the palace in Tavatimsa heaven, and paid the workers their wages. tradition |
| 158 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | On the full moon of Wesak, King Gamani began the Great Stupa, digging the ground seven cubits deep and having elephants tamp the stones. tradition |
| 158 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | King Gamani carried the relic casket on his head, circled the stupa three times with the Sangha, and enshrined it in the Great Stupa. tradition |
| 137 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | King Gamani fell gravely ill, called his younger brother Tissa from Dighavapi, and entrusted him with finishing the Great Stupa. tradition |
| 119 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | Lanjatissa built the Girikumbhila monastery at Dighavapi and offered three stone terraces to the Great Stupa. tradition |
| 104 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | General Kammahatthaka subdued Kalatanaga in the capital, but his younger brother Vattagamani killed him and became king. tradition |
| 24 BC | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | Bhatikabhaya had fragrant paste applied to the Great Stupa, from the lower terrace up to the parasol, four fingers thick, and had flowers pressed into it. tradition |
| AD 33 | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | Ilanaga, nephew of Amanda, drove out Sivali and raised the parasol in the capital. |
| AD 33 | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | Pursued by the Lambakannas, Ilanaga crossed to the western coast by boat with an elephant's help, stayed three years, then raised troops and landed at Sankarasobha port in Rohana. |
| AD 48 | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | At the Tissa Tank festival games, his younger brother Yasalalakatissa killed his elder brother Chandamukha Siva and became king. |
| AD 137 | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | Bhatikatissaka built a wall around the Mahavihara. |
| AD 161 | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | Kanitthatissaka built the Ratanapasada at Abhayagiri for Elder Mahanaga. |
| AD 180 | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | During the Ekanalika Great Famine, King Kunchanaga kept the offerings for 500 monks flowing without interruption. |
| AD 182 | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | General Sirinaga, the queen's brother, marched on the capital with cavalry and troops, attacked Kunchanaga, and seized the throne. |
| AD 223 | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | Abhayanaga, the queen's lover, fled when his elder brother noticed, sailed from Balatittha across the sea to India, and left his uncle Subhadeva behind, splitting the kingdom. |
| AD 263 | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | For the coronation of Mahasena, Elder Sanghamitta came across the sea from the opposite shore to perform the consecration rite. |
| AD 263 | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | At Sanghamitta's urging, the king allowed the Mahavihara to be destroyed, and it was left without monks for nine years. |
| AD 263 | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | Minister Sona and the monks tore down the seven-storey Lohapasada and moved its timber to Abhayagiri. |
| AD 263 | Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) | The king moved the large stone Buddha statue from the Pacchinatissapabbata monastery to Abhayagiri and set it up there. |