He lived in Uragapura in South India and wrote his works in the monastery of Bhūtamaṅgalagāma in the Coḷa country, his patron being Accutavikkama.

He studied, however, at the Mahāvihāra in Anurādhapura. Tradition says (e.g., SadS., p.55) that he met Buddhaghosa.

Buddhadatta’s works include the Vinayavinicchaya, the Uttaravinicchaya, the Abhidhammāvatāra and the Rūpārūpavibhāga. The Madhuratthavilāsinī and the Jinālāṅkāra are also sometimes ascribed to him. Svd.1195,1199; Gv.59,66,69.

For details see P.L.C.105 ff.