Hospital Complex of Mihintale 

A hospital constitutes an important feature in a great monastery. There are ruins of a large hospital complex in Mihintale. This provides an excellent example for a study of hospitals in the Anuradhapura period. :

The Mihintale hospital may have been constructed in the 9" century by King Sena II. The slab inscription provides details about grants made to the hospital. Another inscription discovered on a nearby site deals with paddy fields donated to the hospital to generate income. During excavations, surgical instruments and Persian bronze utensils had been discovered.

The hospital was a building measuring 118.6 x 97.6 meters. The main entrance is facing the east. To the southeast, there are two entrances, and there is a courtyard and two large halls to examine the patients. Wards, medicinal troughs, medicinal saunas are in the middle of the central courtyard. There are ruins of an ancient shrine room.

(Heritage of Rajarata by Prof. Chandra Wikramagamage P173)