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The scriptures
Buddhist scriptures were first written down in full on palm leaves here
Aluvihare Rock Temple was the historic location where the scriptures were first written down completely in text on ola, or palm, leaves. Many monastery caves, some with frescoes, are near the temple.
The famine
About 60 monks lived on yams, roots and leaves through a famine
In the 1st century BC Sri Lanka had a famine that lasted 12 years, during a South Indian invasion. Monks did not receive enough alms. A group of about 60 went to the hills and lived on the banks of the Mahaweli river.
The council
500 scholarly monks agreed a version before it was written
It is said that 500 scholarly monks gathered at Aluvihare to recite the doctrines and agree on a version before transcription. The text was written in Pali on strips of palmyra or talipot palm leaf with a metal stylus.
500scholarly monks said to have gathered to agree a version
The library
The old library was destroyed in 1848 and the work done again
The old library, which had housed the manuscripts for many centuries, was totally destroyed during the Matale Rebellion in 1848. Monks transcribed the texts again, and the first of the three baskets of the law was only completed in 1982.
Day 3, afternoon
It comes after Sigiriya.
More stories from this trip idea
The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Aluvihare Rock Temple, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.