Botanists consider its long life, though remarkable, not impossible
since trees of this species throw up fresh shoots from the roots near
the parent stem. The sculptures at Sanchi represent a branch of a
sacred tree being carried in procession, though no inscription attests
its destination, and Fa-Hsien says that he saw the tree.[34] The
author of the first part of the Mahâvamsa clearly regards it as
already ancient, and throughout the history of Ceylon there are
references to the construction of railings and terraces to protect it.


Devânampiya Tissa probably died in 207 B.C. In 177 the kingdom passed
into the hands of Tamil monarchs who were not Buddhists, although the
chroniclers praise their justice and the respect which they showed to
the Church. The most important of them, Eḷâra, reigned for
forty-four years and was dethroned by a descendant of Tissa, called
Duṭṭhagâmaṇi.[35]

The exploits of this prince are recorded at such length in the
Mahâvamsa (XXII.-XXXII.) as to suggest that they formed the subject of
a separate popular epic, in which he figured as the champion of
Sinhalese against the Tamils, and therefore as a devout Buddhist. On
ascending the throne he felt, like Asoka, remorse for the bloodshed
which had attended his early life and strove to atone for it by good
works, especially the construction of sacred edifices. The most
important of these were the Lohapasâda or Copper Palace and the
Mahâthûpa or Ruwanweli Dagoba. The former[36] was a monastery roofed
or covered with copper plates. Its numerous rooms were richly
decorated and it consisted of nine storeys, of which the four
uppermost were set apart for Arhats, and the lower assigned to the
inferior grades of monks. Perhaps the nine storeys are an