MAHASENA AND DHATUSENA

During King Mahasena's reign, he was ill-advised by his teacher, the Priest Sanghamitta, and was responsible for the destruction of many Buddhist temples. Later he repented and restored many of the buildings that he had demolished.

Mahasena built several new temples and reservoirs. Examples are: The Jethavanarama temple, the Minneriya tank and the Kandhalai tank.

Some time after Mahasena, the island was ruled by a king named Buddhadasa who was reputed to have been a great physician and surgeon. He was succeeded by his son, Mahanama. It was during Mahanama's reign that the legendary Chinese traveller, Fa Hian, and the Hindu sage, Buddhagosa, visited Sri Lanka.

King Dhatusena took possession of the throne after Mahanama. He had two sons, Kasyapa and Mugalan, and it was Kasyapa who had Dhatusena killed. Soon after, Kasyapa ran away and made his home in a rock fortress named Sigiriya.

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