Maliyadeva was a monk who is said to have lived in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

during the 2nd century BCE and to have attained

nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

. According to the Mahavamsa, part of Theravādin tradition, Maliyadeva was the last well-known

arhat In Buddhism, an ''Arhat'' () or ''Arahant'' (, 𑀅𑀭𑀳𑀦𑁆𑀢𑁆) is one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence and has achieved ''Nirvana (Buddhism), Nirvana'' and has been liberated from the Rebirth (Buddhism ...

who had high psychic powers ( Abiññalabhi: ''in Sinhala'':අභිඥ්ඥාලාභී අරහතුන් වහන්සේ ) in Sri Lanka and

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

in Sri Lanka declined after this period. A legend says he brought four Buddha statues from India to Sri Lanka. His meditation chamber may be seen at Arankale and his dwelling place at Guharamaya.Guharamaya: a cave of stone age man
/ref> According to folklore, Arahant Maliyadeva is said to have lived in Ravanagoda, Kotmale.

References

Arhats Sri Lankan Buddhist monks Folk saints {{Buddhism-bio-stub

See also

References