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Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names • G.P. Malalasekera


Page last updated on 8 October, 2020

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Udena-cetiya

A shrine of pre-Buddhistic worship, to the east of Vesāli.

It is mentioned with other shrines at Vesāli — Gotamaka, Sārandada, Sattamba, Cāpāla, and Bahuputta — all of which are described as beautiful spots (D.ii.102; S.v.260; A.iv.309; see also D.iii.9).

Rhys Davids conjectures that these were probably trees or barrows (Dial.ii.110, n.1, but see Law: Geography of Early Buddhism, 74 ff).

The Dhammapada Commentary (iii.246) describes the Udena and the Gotamaka shrines as “rukkha-cetiya” to which men pay homage in order to have their wishes fulfilled.

The Dīghanikāya Commentary (ii.554; AA.ii.784; UdA.323) says that in the Buddha’s time a vihāra had been erected on the spot where this shrine stood and that this vihāra had previously been dedicated to the yakkha Udena.