Kalyani Ordination Hall

Coordinates: 17°19′59″N 96°27′52″E / 17.333145°N 96.464378°E / 17.333145; 96.464378
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Kalyani Ordination Hall
ကလျာဏီသိမ်
Bago
CountryMyanmar
Kalyani Ordination Hall is located in Myanmar
Kalyani Ordination Hall
Shown within Myanmar
Geographic coordinates17°19′59″N 96°27′52″E / 17.333145°N 96.464378°E / 17.333145; 96.464378
Architecture
FounderDhammazedi
Completed22 November 1476[note 1]
7th waxing of Nadaw 838 ME

Kalyāṇī Ordination Hall (

Pali: Kalyāṇī Sīmā) is a Buddhist ordination hall located in Bago, Myanmar. The ordination hall is a major pilgrimage site,[1] and houses the Kalyani Inscriptions, a set of 10 sandstone pillars inscribed in Pali and Mon in 1480.[2][3] The inscriptions are important records of Theravada Buddhist history and of that era.[3]

History

The ordination hall was first built by King Dhammazedi of the Hanthawaddy Kingdom in 1476 to re-ordain the kingdom's Buddhist monks, in an effort to purify the kingdom's Sangha, which had undergone several internal schisms.[4] To this end, in 1476, Dhammazedi sent 22 senior monks and their disciples to Sri Lanka, where they were re-ordained at the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara.[4] After the monks had returned, Dhammazedi built the Kalyani Ordination Hall, which derives its name from the Kelani River in Sri Lanka.[5][4] The construction of the first Kalyani Ordination Hall spurred construction of similarly-named Kalyani Ordination Halls; throughout the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, 9 large ones and 107 small ones were constructed.[5]

The ordination hall was destroyed several times. Portuguese explorers burnt the structure in 1599, and King Alaungpaya destroyed the hall during his invasion of Bago in 1757.[4][6] The ordination hall was also destroyed by fires and earthquakes, including an earthquake in 1930 that levelled the structure completely.[6] The extant ordination hall was reconstructed in 1954.[4]

Notes

  1. ^ (Taw 1892: 92): Construction of the ordination hall was completed on Saturday [sic], the 7th waxing of Migasira (Nadaw) 838 ME (Friday, 22 November 1476); King Dhammazedi visited the hall on the 8th waxing (23 November 1476); and the hall formally received the name Kalyani Sima, and per (Taw 1892: 95, 97) hosted the first re-ordination ceremony on the 9th waxing (24 November 1476).

References

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  6. ^ a b Wright, Colin (26 March 2009). "Kalyani Sima, [Pegu]". British Library. Retrieved 2016-11-28.

Bibliography