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Rāmagāma

A Koliyan village on the banks of the Gaṅgā.

Its inhabitants claimed and obtained a share of the Buddha’s relics, over which they erected a thūpa (D.ii.167; Bu.xxviii.3; Dvy.380).

This thūpa was later destroyed by floods, and the urn, with the relics, was washed into the sea. There the Nāgā, led by their king, Mahākāḷa, received it and took it to their abode in Mañjerika where a thūpa was built over them, with a temple attached, and great honour was paid to them. When Duṭṭhagāmaṇī built the Mahā Thūpa and asked for relics to be enshrined therein, Mahinda sent Soṇuttara Thera to the Nāga world to obtain these relies, the Buddha having ordained that they should ultimately be enshrined in the Mahā Thūpa. However, Mahākāḷa was not willing to part with them, and Soṇuttara had to use his psychic power to obtain them. A few of the relics were later returned to the Nāgā for their worship. For details see Mhv.xxxi.18 ff.