336 



JOURNAL, K.A.S. (CEYLON). [Vol. VIII. 



The above is the short traditional history of this noted 

 temple that the priest kindly supplied, and there was much 

 iu the place to substantiate a good deal of it. 



The dagaba, about forty feet high, is built on the summit 

 of a rock, which commands a splendid view of the sur- 

 rounding country. 



On questioning the priest for old books and records which 

 would afford a clue to the history of this temple, he produced 

 an interesting document, which, upon close examination, 

 proved to be genuine. It is a letter written by John Gideon 

 Loten, who was the Dutch Governor of Ceylon from 1752 

 to 1757,* to the Siamese Priest Upali, who was the prin- 

 cipal Thera sent by the King of Siam at the request of Kirti 

 Sri Rajasinha, 1753 a.d., to revive the Upasampada ordina- 

 tion then extinct in Ceylon. A copy of it, with a transcript 

 and translation, is annexed : — 



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* Pull particulars of the arrival of Upali in Ceylon, and the cordial 

 reception accorded him, are narrated at length in the 99th chapter of 

 the Mahdwansa, and in a history of the Upasampada Ordination, iu a 

 pamphlet called the Syamamkdya D'tpdniyu, published iu 18*0. 



