Kalyani Ordination Hall

The Kalyani Ordination Hall, known in Pali as Kalyāṇī Sīmā, is a significant Buddhist ordination hall situated in Bago, Myanmar. Its importance stems from its role as a major pilgrimage site and, crucially, as the repository of the Kalyani Inscriptions. These inscriptions, consisting of ten sandstone pillars carved in Pali and Mon, were erected in 1480 and provide invaluable historical documentation of Theravada Buddhism and the religious landscape of that era.

History and Construction

The history of the Kalyani Ordination Hall is deeply intertwined with the religious reforms of King Dhammazedi of the Hanthawaddy kingdom. In 1476, the king initiated a project to purify the kingdom's Sangha, which had been affected by internal schisms. To achieve this, he dispatched senior monks and their disciples to Sri Lanka for re-ordination at the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara. Upon their return, King Dhammazedi commissioned the construction of the Kalyani Ordination Hall, drawing its name from the Sri Lankan river, Kelani. This initial construction inspired the establishment of numerous similarly named ordination halls throughout the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, with nine large and 107 small ones documented.

The structure has faced considerable destruction over the centuries. It was burned by Portuguese explorers in 1599 and later destroyed by King Alaungpaya during his invasion of Bago in 1757. The hall has also succumbed to natural disasters, including fires and earthquakes, with a particularly devastating earthquake in 1930 leveling the entire structure. The present-day Kalyani Ordination Hall is a reconstruction completed in 1954.