XI. The Great Shrine

As King Duṭṭhagāmaṇi lay dying, his brother Tissa completed the external structure of the Mahāthūpa so the king could see it one last time. This final chapter records the king’s last acts of devotion and his subsequent rebirth in the celestial realms. The Great Shrine stands as his greatest legacy, a massive Thūpa that remains a primary site of pilgrimage, perpetually honored by the faithful and protected by the spiritual influence of the Arahats. The story closes by shwoing how King Duṭṭhagāmaṇi’s great spiritual meritwill earn him a place at the side of Buddha Metteyya in the future. And the author’s own Envoi.