Mahākassapa Thera was a 12th-century Sri Lankan forest monk and an abbot of Dimbulagala Raja Maha Vihara, a forest monastery outside of

Polonnaruwa Poḷonnaruwa, ( si, පොළොන්නරුව, translit=Poḷonnaruva; ta, பொலன்னறுவை, translit=Polaṉṉaṟuvai) also referred as Pulathisipura and Vijayarajapura in ancient times, is the main town of Polonnaruwa Dis ...

. Mahākassapa who was well versed in

Vinaya The Vinaya (Pali & Sanskrit: विनय) is the division of the Buddhist canon ('' Tripitaka'') containing the rules and procedures that govern the Buddhist Sangha (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). Three parallel Vinaya traditions remai ...

, presided over the Buddhist council convened by King Parakramabahu I (1153-1186) whose main goal was to reorganize, reform and unify the Sangha. An inscription at

Gal Vihara The Gal Vihara ( si, ගල් විහාර, lit=rock monastery), and known originally as the Uttararama ( si, උත්තරාම, lit=the northern monastery), is a rock temple of the Buddha situated in the ancient city Polonnaruwa, the ca ...

states that with Mahākassapa's advice, the council expelled hundreds of corrupt monks and unified the Sangha under one single monastic Nikaya, the

Mahavihara Mahavihara () is the Sanskrit and Pali term for a great vihara (centre of learning or Buddhist monastery) and is used to describe a monastic complex of viharas. Mahaviharas of India A range of monasteries grew up in ancient Magadha (modern Bihar ...

sect.Chandra Richard De Silva; Sri Lanka, a history, p 80 Mahākassapa also wrote several works on Vinaya.

References

Theravada Buddhism writers People of the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa {{buddhism-bio-stub