Great info, thank you very much for summarizing the interesting details, Bhante @sujato
Now one thing that would have to be kept in mind when considering the Kalyani Sima of king Dhammazedi (Ramadhipati) as an unbroken Mahāvihāra lineage from Mahinda is that in the 11th century supposedly the Sri Lankan king of that time requested monks from King Anuruddha (Anawrahta) in Rāmañña (southern Myanmar plus Bagan/Pugāma at that time). That was because after a devastating war with the Tamils there were not even enough monks to perfom formal sangha acts such as higher ordination (at least so the story goes), so he requested learned monks and tipitaka copies from Anuruddha, which he sent, and they then performed many ordainations in Sri Lanka and helped to re-establish the sangha there. These monks from Rāmañña though were from the Soṇa & Uttara lineage of Thaton/Sudhammapura/Suvaṇṇabhūmi. So would that re-established lineage in Sri Lanka still be considered Mahavihāra and “Mahinda”, if it was re-established with burmese Soṇa&Uttara monks?
Just adding this thought to the topic, since I came across this detail in some papers. The account can be found for example in the Cūḷavaṃsa, chapter IX, paragraph 4ff
Another point that I am wondering about is actually to which extent the Dhammayut claims to stem from a genuinely “Kaḷyāni sīmā”-lineage. At least as far as I heard this what they say, that their founder re-ordained in a Mon lineage called “kaḷyāni sīmā”.
Here in Mon state though, where I’m staying right now, nobody seems to know about such a lineage. Everyone knows the kalyani sima halls built by King Dhammazedi across the country (here in Thaton also there’s one that stands till today) and some also know the history related to it - but no one links this name to a specific monastic sect.
Myanmar history appears to be such that all monks under the king’s rule were eventually re-ordained in the KS lineage and then over the years there were again conflicts and schisms in the Sangha with the kings from time to time favoring this or that sect. But all of these burmese sects would still stem from the KS all the same, so I am doubtful how that Mon kaḷyāni sīmā lineage in which Mongkut (the founder of the Dhammayut) ordained, would have been genuinely KS compared to all other burmese traditions.
Anyone knows more about this?
Bhante Sujato in another thread mentioned a book:
I also couldn’t find the book online and also wasn’t able to find contact information for the Mahamakut university. If anyone could help with this, would be great 