The city's apogee was reached under the reign of Dutthagamani who, in 161 BC, defeated the South Indian invader Elara re-establishing Buddhism in the place of Brahminism and endowed the site with extraordinary monuments including the Mirisaveti Stupa, Ruwanwelisaya, and the Brazen Palace.
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It was built by King Dutugemunu, who became lord of all Sri Lanka after a war in which the Chola King Elara, was defeated.
For a long time this structure was considered the monumental tomb, King Dutugemunu had built for King Elara, after defeating him in battle.
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There was a belief that this tomb was built by King Duttugemunu, to honour King Elara, who had ruled justly.
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This structure currently identified as a Buddhist stupa, but considered until the mid-1800s CE as Elara Sohona, the tomb of 2nd century BCE Tamil king Elara, who invaded Sri Lanka from the Chola Kingdom, in the Tamil country and ruled in Anurahapura.
The primary source for his reign is the Mahavamsa, though he is also the only early Sri Lankan king (along with Elara) to be extensively mentioned in the Chera Cilappatikaram (also spelled Silapathikaram).
Perhaps the most famous invader had been Elara, around a thousand years previously, who despite conquering the island by force had earned the title of 'dharmaraja' ('Just King') even amongst monks and was regarded as one of the best examples of governance in the history of the country.
Maha Pambata, or 'Big Rock' is a famous war elephant belonging to the Tamil King Elara (c.235
Manu Needhi Cholan or Manuneedhi Cholan, also known as Elara, was a legendary Chola king believed to have killed his own son to provide justice to a Cow.Legend has it that the king hung a giant bell in front of his courtroom for anyone needing justice to ring.
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MahaVamsa states that a King called Elara, a Chola King invaded the island in around 235 BC.
Much is written of the great war of 205 BC to 161 BC between Sinhala King Dutugemunu and a South Indian Tamil invader Elara for the City of Anuradhapura, and the central role played by Dutugemunu’s Ten Giant Warriors (දසමහා යෝධයෝ) or the great warriors (dasa maha yodhayo in sinhalese) – the dasa maha yodha.
Elara | Elara (monarch) | Elara (King) |
After launching a campaign to regain the country from Elara, Dutthagamani captured a number of his strongholds before coming to the fortified city of Vijithapura.
Numerical integrations show a high probability of collisions among the members of the prograde group during the lifespan of the solar system (e.g. on average 1.5 collisions between Himalia and Elara).
Some such as Chola King Ellalan or Elara reigned as a Tamil but in a manner acceptable to the Buddhist.