KalyÄṇī
The name of a river and of the district near its mouth in Sri Lanka. The Buddha visited the KalyÄṇi country in the eighth year after the Enlightenment, in company with five hundred monks, on the second day after the full-moon of VesÄkha and, seated on the spot where the KalyÄṇi-Cetiya was later built, he taught to the NÄgas and their king Maniakkhika, at whose invitation he had come (Sp.i.89; Mhv.i.63, 75ff; Dpv.ii.42, 53; J.ii.128).
Once a king reigned in KalyÄṇī named Kalyaṇi-Tissa, who had a daughter VihÄramahÄdevÄ«. According to the legends connected with her, KalyÄṇī was at one time much further from the sea than it is now. The sea swallowed up several leagues of land (Mhv.xxii.12ff). King YatthÄla-Tissa built a five-storied pÄsÄda in the town, which was later restored by ParakkamabÄhu II (Cv.lxxxv.64).
The KalyÄṇi district formed the fighting base of several campaigns. e.g., Cv.lxi.35, 39; lxxii.151.
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