Relations With The Countrymen
During Mahasen’s anti-Theravada campaign, his countrymen turned against him and this opposition even led to rebellions against him. Even the Commander of his army Meghavarnabaya turned against him. These led to the killing of several royal officials, including the monk Sanghamitta, the teacher of the king who led him to this campaign.
However, after Mahasen reconstructed the Mahavihara and constructed and repaired several tanks in order to improve agriculture in the country, the people’s opposition toward him was reduced. After the construction of the Minneriya reservoir, Mahasen was regarded as a god or deity, and was called Minneri Deviyo (God of Minneriya). After his death, a shrine was built for him near the Minneriya reservoir, the remains of which can be seen to this day.
Mahasen died in 301, and with his death, the Mahavamsa written by the Buddhist Monk Mahanama also ends.
Read more about this topic: Mahasena Of Anuradhapura
Famous quotes containing the words relations and/or countrymen:
“Our relations to each other are oblique and casual.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Everyone loathes his own country and countrymen if he is any sort of artist.”
—Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990)