A mountain near Anurādhapura, the present Mihintale. It was while hunting the elk on this mountain that Devānampiyatissa met Mahinda who had come with his companions to convert the Island to Buddhism. It was on Silākūta, the northern peak of the mountain, that Mahinda alighted after his journey through the air from India, while the conversation between him and the king took place in Ambatthala, the small tableland below the peak (Mhv.xiii.14, 20; xiv.2; Dpv.xii.28, 37ff).
The mountain later came to be called Cetiyagiri (q.v.). Mhv.xvii.23; Dpv.xiv.56.