Sanghamitra

Sanghamittā
Sangamitta Statue at a Monastery in Sri Lanka
Religion	Buddhism
Sect	Theravada
Known for	establishing Theravāda Buddhist nunnery in Sri Lanka
Education	Buddhist religion
Other names	Sanghamitrā (Sanskrit)
Personal
Nationality	Indian
Born	281 BC Ujjeni, Ashokan Period, India
Died	202 BC Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka
Resting place	Sri Lanka
Spouse	Aggibrahmā
Children	Son – Sumana
Parents	Ashoka (father) Devi (mother)

Saṅghamittā (Saṅghamitrā in Sanskrit) was the eldest daughter of Emperor Ashoka and his first wife, Devi. Together with Mahinda, her brother, she entered an order of Buddhist monks. The two siblings later went to Sri Lanka to spread the teachings of Buddha at the request of King Devanampiya Tissa (250 BC – 210 BC) who was a contemporary of Ashoka (304 BC – 232 BC). At first she landed in 'Mathagal'. The village Mathagal is situated 16 km away from Jaffna town, in the north of Sri Lanka, along the shores of the Indian Ocean. Buddhist Emperor Samrat Ashoka sent her to Sri Lanka together with several other nuns to start the nun-lineage of Bhikkhunis (a fully ordained female Buddhist monastic) at the request of King Tissa to ordain queen Anulā and other women of Tissa's court at Anuradhapura who desired to be ordained as nuns after Mahindra converted them to Buddhism.

After Sanghamittā’s contribution to the propagation of Buddhism in Sri Lanka and her establishing the Bikhhunī Sangha or Meheini Sasna (Order of Nuns) there, her name became synonymous with "Buddhist Female Monastic Order of Theravāda Buddhism" that was established not only in Sri Lanka but also in Burma, China and Thailand, in particular. The day the most revered tree, the Bodhi tree, a sapling of which was brought by her to Sri Lanka and planted in Anuradhapura, and which still survives, is also celebrated every year on the Full Moon day of December as "Uduvapa Poya" or "Uposatha Poya" and "Sanghamittā Day" by Theravāda Buddhists in Sri Lanka.