Maricavaṭṭi
A cetiya in Anurādhapura and a monastic building attached to it. The cetiya was built by Duṭṭhagāmaṇī on the spot where the king’s spear, containing the Buddha’s relic given to him by the monks (Mhv.xxv.1), was planted, when Duṭṭhagāmaṇī went to the Tissavāpī for his ceremonial bathing after his consecration. When the king’s men attempted to remove the spear they found it impossible, and the king, after consultation with the monks, decided to build a cetiya enclosing the spot with a vihāra attached. The work was completed in three years and a great ceremony of dedication was held, the building and the ceremony costing a hundred and ninety million. The vihāra was called Maricavaṭṭi because it was intended by the king as expiation for having once eaten a pepper pod (maricavaṭṭi) without sharing it with the monks, thus violating the vow of his childhood. For the building of the vihāra, see Mhv.xxvi.1 ff; the vow is mentioned at Mhv.xxii.80; the Dpv. makes no mention of Maricavaṭṭi.
Vohārikatissa renovated the vihāra (Mhv.xxxvi.33, 36), while Goṭhābhaya built an uposatha hall (Mhv.xxxvi.107) and Vasabha provided a mantling for the thūpa (Mhv.xxxv.121).
Kassapa II built a pāsāda in the vihāra and gave it to the Thera who, at one time, lived in Nāgasālā (Cv.xliv.149). Kassapa IV entrusted the care of the Bodhi tree at Maricavaṭṭi to the bhikkhuṇīs at the Tissārāma, which he built for them (Cv.lii.24), while Kassapa V restored the whole vihāra, gave it to the Theravādins and granted five hundred maintenance villages (Cv.lii.45). Devā, mother of Sakkasenāpati, provided a diadem jewel for the Buddha image in the vihāra, also a halo, an umbrella and a garment (Cv.lii.65). Dappula III gave a maintenance village to the vihāra (Cv.liii.2), while Mahinda IV started to build in it a pāsāda called Candana, which does not seem to have been completed (Cv.liv.40). Parakkamabāhu I found the thūpa destroyed by the Damiḷā and rebuilt it to the height of eighty cubits (Cv.lxxviii.99).