Sinhalese rulers led to competition for royal patronage, though most rulers supported all sects. During the reign of Voharika Tissa (209–31 CE), the Mahāvihāra tradition convinced the king to repress the Mahāyān teachings, which they saw as incompatible with the true doctrine. The tables were turned during the reign of the king Mahasena (277 to 304 CE), which was marked by his support of Mahāyāna Buddhism and repression of the Mahāvihāra, which refused to convert to Mahāyāna. Mahasena went as far as to destroy some of the buildings of the Mahāvihāra complex to build up Abhayagiri and a new monastery, the Jetavana. Due to this, Abhiyagiri emerged as the largest and most influential Buddhist tradition on the island, and the Mahāvihāra tradition would not regain its dominant position until the Polonnaruwa period in 1055. During the reign of Kithsirimevan (301–328 CE), Sudatta, the sub-king of Kalinga, and Hemamala brought the Tooth Relic of the Buddha to Sri Lanka. Kithsirimevan enshrined the relic and ordered a procession to be held annually in its honour. The Tooth Relic of the Buddha soon became one of the most sacred objects in the country, and a symbol of Sinhala Buddhist kingship. It was housed and promoted by the Abhayagiri tradition. When the Chinese monk Faxian visited the island in the early 5th century, he noted 5000 monks at Abhayagiri, 3000 at the Mahāvihāra, and 2000 at the Cetiyapabbatavihāra. Faxian also obtained a Sanskrit copy of the Vinaya of the Mahīśāsaka at the Abhayagiri vihāra (c. 406). This was then translated into Chinese and remains extant in the Chinese Buddhist canon as Taishō Tripiṭaka 1421. The main architectural feature of Sri Lankan Buddhism at this time was the dome-shaped stupa, which enshrined Buddhist relics and were objects of veneration. In Anuradhapura, the five most important stupas were: the Thuparama (part of the Mahāvihāra complex), the Mirisavati, the Ruvanvalisaya (also known as the Mahastupa), the Abhayagiri and the Jetavana (the largest stupa in the capital, and probably the largest in the Buddhist world at the time of construction). It is known that in the 8th century, both Mahāyāna and the esoteric Vajrayāna form of Buddhism were being practised in Sri Lanka, and two Indian monks responsible for propagating Esoteric Buddhism in China, Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra, visited the island during this time. Abhayagiri remained an influential centre for the study of Theravāda Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna thought from