Ambapali or Amrapali
Ambapali or Amrapali, ff. ca. 500-480 B. C., Buddhist nun. Originally a rich courtesan of Vaisali, where she was found abandoned as a babe in a mango grove, and was brought up in the republican Lichchhavi clan. Because of her exceptional beauty, it was decided that she be a courtesan. She became enormously rich, and her fame spread far and wide. The king of Magadha, Bimbisara, also became her lover and visited her secretly, and by whom she bore a son, Vimala Kondanna. She later became a lay devotee of Buddha and invited the Buddha to her home for the meals. Her invitation was accepted much to the disappointment of other people of Vaisali who had also invited him. She gave away her famous mango grove with its buildings to the Buddha for the ca use of the Sangha (the Buddhist order) and be-came a nun. Her romantic life is celebrated in stories and legends.
