Śrī Lanka is home to the world’s oldest continuing Buddhist civilization: The Lankan king Devanāṁpiya Tissa (3rd century B.C.E.), a contemporary of the Indian Emperor Aśoka, is said to have been converted to the Buddha’s teachings by Aśoka’s own missionary son, Mahinda. Brāhmī inscriptions etched in stone on drip ledges indicate that hermitages have been dedicated by Buddhist Laity for the meditation needs of monks