A district, probably Northern Kanara, in South India. After the Third Council, Rakkhita Thera was sent there to convert the people, and he preached the Anamatagga Samyutta poised in mid air. It is said that sixty thousand persons embraced the faith, thirty seven thousand joined the Order, while fifty vihāras were established in the country.
Mhv.xii.4, 30f.; Sp.i.63 66; Dpv.viii.6. The Vanavāsī are mentioned in the Mahābhārata (6. 366) and the Harivamsa (5232) as a people of S. India. The Sās (p.12) also mentions a county called Vanavāsī, which, however, is the country round Prome in Lower Burma.