Travel to Great Mirror: Photo 4

Being restored now, it's the Abhayagira dagoba, built by Vatta Gamini about  80 B.C.,  shortly after another period of Indian rule.  The monks at Abhayagiri were often in conflict with those at the nearby Mahavihara, partly because the monks here were less traditional--some even following Mahayana Buddhism rather than the orthodox Theravada.  Still, Abhayagiri prospered with royal support.  How much so?  Here's a description from a fifth century visitor, the Chinese monk Fa-hsien (Faxian, "master of the law"):

"By the side of this stupa, a monastery was erected which is called Abhayagiri (the Hill of Fearlessness), and here are five thousand monks.  It contains a hall for the worship of Buddha, engraved with gold and silver and adorned with precious stones.  In it stands an image of Buddha made of green jade, some twenty feet high.  The entire image sparkles with the seven precious substances, and its splendour and magnificence defy description.  In its right hand, the image holds a priceless pearl."

By the time the British came, the whole thing was shrouded in low forest.

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