Asoka and Buddhism – iTopper IAS Academy

About 261 BCE, Asoka became a Sakya Upasaka (lay disciple) and two and a half years later, a Bikshu (monk)
He visited Bodhgaya, and organized missions. He appointed special officers called Dharma Mahamatras to speed up the progress of Dhamma
In 241 BCE, he visited the birthplace of Buddha, the Lumbini Garden, near Kapilavastu, also visited other holy places of Buddhism like Sarnath, Sravasti and Kushinagar
He sent a mission to Sri Lanka under his son Mahendra and daughter Sanghamitra who planted there the branch of the original Bodhi tree
Asoka convened the Third Buddhist Council at Pataliputra in 240 BCE, in order to strengthen the Sangha. It was presided over by Moggaliputta Tissa