The Amarapura Nikaya ( si, අමරපුර මහ නිකාය) was a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n monastic fraternity ('' gaṇa'' or ''

nikāya ''Nikāya'' () is a Pāli word meaning "volume". It is often used like the Sanskrit word '' āgama'' () to mean "collection", "assemblage", "class" or "group" in both Pāḷi and Sanskrit. It is most commonly used in reference to the Pali Buddhist ...

'') founded in 1800. It is named after the city of

Amarapura Amarapura ( my, အမရပူရ, MLCTS=a. ma. ra. pu ra., , ; also spelt as Ummerapoora) is a former capital of Myanmar, and now a township of Mandalay city. Amarapura is bounded by the Irrawaddy river in the west, Chanmyathazi Township in t ...

, Burma, the capital of the

Konbaung Dynasty The Konbaung dynasty ( my, ကုန်းဘောင်ခေတ်, ), also known as Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်) and formerly known as the Alompra dynasty (အလောင်းဘ ...

of Burma at that time. Amarapura Nikaya monks are

Theravada Buddhists ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

. On 16th of August 2019, the Amarapura and

Ramanna Nikaya ''Ramanaa'' is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language vigilante action film written and directed by A. R. Murugadoss, stars Vijayakanth, Ashima Bhalla and Simran in lead roles. The film is about a man named Ramana who decides to abolish corruption compl ...

were unified as the

Amarapura–Rāmañña Nikāya The Amarapura–Rāmañña Nikāya ( si, අමරපුර–රාමඤ්ඤ සාමග්‍රී මහා සංඝ සභාව, Amarapura–Rāmañña Sāmagrī Mahā Saṁgha Sabhāva) is the larger of the two Buddhist Buddh ...

, making it the largest Buddhist fraternity in Sri Lanka.Amarapura and Ramanna denominations unified
the Morning Lanka, accessed 2019.08.17

History

By the mid-18th century, '' upasampada'' - higher ordination as a

bhikkhu A ''bhikkhu'' (Pali: भिक्खु, Sanskrit: भिक्षु, ''bhikṣu'') is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male and female monastics ("nun", ''bhikkhunī'', Sanskrit ''bhikṣuṇī'') are members of the Sangha (Buddhist ...

(monk), as distinct from

sāmaṇera A sāmaṇera (Pali); sa, श्रामणेर (), is a novice male monastic in a Buddhist context. A female novice is a ''śrāmaṇerī'' or ''śrāmaṇerikā'' (Sanskrit; Pāli: ''sāmaṇerī''). Etymology The ''sāmaṇera'' is a ...

or novitiate ordination - had become extinct in Sri Lanka. The Buddhist order had become extinct thrice during the preceding five hundred years and was reestablished during the reigns of

Vimaladharmasuriya I of Kandy Vimaladharmasūriya I was a king of Kandy from 1590 to 1604. His reputation was built when he successfully repulsed two major Portuguese offensives on Kandy, the Battle of Danture in 1594 and the Battle of Balana in 1602, in both of which the P ...

(1591-1604) and

Vimaladharmasuriya II of Kandy Vimaladharmasurya II (ruled 1687–1707) was a king of Kandy who succeeded his father, Rajasinghe II. He allowed Joseph Vaz to settle in his kingdom and allowed him to preach the Christian faith. Childhood During his childhood Lord Ambanwela Rala ...

(1687-1707). These reestablishments were short lived. This was a period when the

Vinaya The Vinaya (Pali & Sanskrit: विनय) is the division of the Buddhist canon ('' Tripitaka'') containing the rules and procedures that govern the Buddhist Sangha (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). Three parallel Vinaya traditions remai ...

had been virtually abandoned and some members of the

Sangha Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...

in the

Kingdom of Kandy The Kingdom of Kandy was a monarchy on the Sri Lanka, island of Sri Lanka, located in the central and eastern portion of the island. It was founded in the late 15th century and endured until the early 19th century. Initially a client kingdom ...

privately held land, had wives and children, resided in the private homes and were called Ganinnanses. On the initiative of

Weliwita Sri Saranankara Thero Weliwita Asaranasarana Sri Saranankara Sangharaja Thero (19 June 1698 – 18 July 1778) or popularly Weliwita Sri Saranankara Thero was a Buddhist monk, who was the last Sangharaja of Sri Lanka. He was the pioneer in the revival of Buddhism in Sr ...

(1698-1778) the Thai monk

Upali Thera Upali Thera ( th, อุบาลี, ) was a Thai Theravada monk and founder of the Siam Nikaya order of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. He visited Kandy in 1753 and there performed '' upasampada'' (higher ordination, as distinct from samanera or novic ...

visited Kandy during the reign of

Kirti Sri Rajasinha of Kandy Kirti Sri Rajasinha ( Sinhala: කීර්ති ශ්‍රී රාජසිංහ, Tamil: கீர்த்தி ஸ்ரீ ராஜசிங்கம்; 11 August 1747 – 2 January 1782) was the second Nayaka king of Kandy. He was ...

(1747-1782) and once again reestablished the Buddhist order in Sri Lanka in 1753. It was called the

Siam Nikaya The Siam (also Siyamopali and Siyam) Nikaya is a monastic order within Sri Lankan Buddhism, founded by Upali Thera and located predominantly around the city of Kandy. It is so named because it originated within Thailand (formerly known in Sri Lan ...

after a name for

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. However, in 1764, merely a decade after the reestablishment of the Buddhist order in Sri Lanka by reverend Upali, a group within the newly created Siam Nikaya succeeded in restricting upasampada only to the

Govigama Govigama (also known as Goyigama, Govikula, Govi Vansa or Goyi Vansa) is a Sinhalese caste found in Sri Lanka. They form approximately half of the Sinhalese population and are traditionally involved in agriculture. The term Govigama became popular ...

caste. It was a period when the traditional nobility of the Kingdom of Kandy was decimated by continuous wars with the Dutch rulers of the Maritime Provinces. In the maritime provinces too a new order was replacing the old. Mandarampura Puvata, a text from the Kandyan period, narrates the above radical changes to the monastic order and shows that it was not a unanimous decision by the body of the sangha. It says that thirty two ‘senior’ members of the Sangha who opposed this change were banished to

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most ...

by the leaders of the reform. The Govigama exclusivity of the Sangha thus secured in 1764 was almost immediately challenged by other castes who without the patronage of the King of Kandy or of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

, held their own upasampada ceremony at Totagamuwa Vihara in 1772. Another was held at Tangalle in 1798. Neither of these ceremonies were approved by the

which claimed that these were not in accordance with the

rules. King Rajadhi Rajasinghe (1782–1798) had made an order restricting the right of obtaining higher ordination to the members of a particular caste. As a consequence of this ‘exclusively Govigama’ policy adopted in 1764 by the Siyam Nikaya, the Buddhists in the Maritime provinces were denied access to a valid ordination lineage. Hoping to rectify this situation, wealthy laymen from the maritime provinces financed an expedition to Siam to found a new monastic lineage. In 1799, Walitota Sri Gnanawimalatisssa a monk from the

Salagama Salagama (also known as ''Saliya'' and ''Salagama Brahakmana Vanshaya'') is a Sinhalese caste found mostly in the southern coastal areas of Sri Lanka. The community was traditionally associated with the cultivation and management of cinnamon and ...

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

, from Balapitiya on the south western coast of Sri Lanka, departed for Siam with a group of novices to seek a new succession of Higher ordination. Two Sahabandu Mudaliyars and the other prominent dayakayas undertook to bear the expenses of the mission and make the necessary arrangements for the journey. But during the trip, they had an incident where the ship suddenly stopped moving. Once it was able to move again, the Dutch national Captain of the ship suggested that Buddhism was in a more flourishing condition in Amarapura, Burma than Siam. The monk agreed to the suggestion of the Captain and the latter, through the Dutch Consul at

Hanthawaddy Bago (formerly spelt Pegu; , ), formerly known as Hanthawaddy, is a city and the capital of the Bago Region in Myanmar. It is located north-east of Yangon. Etymology The Burmese name Bago (ပဲခူး) is likely derived from the Mon langua ...

(now Bago, Burma), obtained the necessary introductions to the religious and administrative authorities in Amarapura. The first

was ordained in Burma in 1800 by the

Sangharaja Sangharaja (Pāli: ''sangha'' religious community + ''raja'' ruler, king, or prince) is the title given in many Theravada Buddhist countries to a senior monk who is the titular head either of a monastic fraternity ( nikaya), or of the ''Sangha'' t ...

of Burma, his party having been welcomed to Burma by King

Bodawpaya Bodawpaya ( my, ဘိုးတော်ဘုရား, ; th, ปดุง; 11 March 1745 – 5 June 1819) was the sixth king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma. Born Maung Shwe Waing and later Badon Min, he was the fourth son of Alaungpaya, fou ...

. The members of the mission studied under the Sangharaja for two years. The initial mission returned to Sri Lanka in 1803. Soon after their return to the island they established a ''udakhupkhepa sima'' (a flotilla of boats moved together to form a platform on the water) at the

Maduganga River Madu Ganga is a minor watercourse which originates near Uragasmanhandiya in the Galle District of Sri Lanka, before widening into the Madu Ganga Lake at Balapitiya. The river then flows for a further a before draining into the Indian Ocean. It i ...

, Balapitiya and, under the most senior Burmese bhikkhus who accompanied them, held an upasampada ceremony on the

Uposatha The Uposatha ( sa, Upavasatha) is a Buddhist day of observance, in existence from the Buddha's time (600 BCE), and still being kept today by Buddhist practitioners. The Buddha taught that the Uposatha day is for "the cleansing of the defiled mind ...

Vesak Vesak (Pali: ''Vesākha''; sa, Vaiśākha), also known as Buddha Jayanti, Buddha Purnima and Buddha Day, is a holiday traditionally observed by Buddhism, Buddhists in South Asia and Southeast Asia as well as Tibet and Mongolia. The festival ...

. The new fraternity came to be known as the Amarapura Nikaya after the capital city of King Bodawpaya. Several subsequent trips to Burma by

Karava Karava () is a Sinhalese speaking ethnic group of Sri Lanka, whose ancestors from ancient times migrated from the Coromandel coast, claiming lineage to the Kaurava royalty of the old Kingdom of Kuru in Northern India. The Tamil equivalent is Kar ...

and

Durava Durave or Durava or Durawa are a southern coastal Sinhalese caste in Sri Lanka. Their traditional occupation is toddy tapping. They trace their ancestry to medieval period migrants from South India. The term Durave arise from Tamil word Duraiv ...

monks as well, created by 1810 a core group of ordained monks and provided the required quorum for Higher Ordination of Amarapura Nikaya monks in Sri Lanka. The higher ordination denied to them in 1764 by the Govigama conspirators had been regained and they were soon granted recognition by the colonial British government. However, the radical change of ordination rules by the Siam Nikaya in 1764 and its continuance despite it being contrary to the teachings of the

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...

, plagues the Sri Lankan Buddhist Sangha, which remains divided on caste lines.

Significance

The establishment of the Amarapura Nikaya was significant because it signaled a change in the social dynamic of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. For the first time, a monastic lineage had been created not through royal patronage of a Buddhist king, but through the

collective action Collective action refers to action taken together by a group of people whose goal is to enhance their condition and achieve a common objective. It is a term that has formulations and theories in many areas of the social sciences including psych ...

of a dedicated group of Buddhist laymen. The Amarapura Nikaya was thus both independent of government and royal power, and more closely tied to its patrons in the growing middle class. This presaged both the growing power of the middle class in Sri Lanka during the 19th and 18th Centuries, and the rise of so-called Protestant Buddhism among the Sinhalese middle class- a modernized form of Buddhism in which increasing power and authority were vested in the laity, rather than monastic authorities.

Amarapura Mahasangha Sabha

The Amaprapura nikaya which was divided in to several sub nikayas (sub-orders) in the past was united on the initiatives taken by

Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero ( si, අග්ග මහා පණ්ඩිත බලංගොඩ ආනන්ද මෛත්‍රෙය මහා නා හිමි;23 August 1896 – 18 July 1998; was a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk who was on ...

and

Madihe Pannaseeha Thero Most Venerable Madihe Pannaseeha Mahathera (Pali: Paññāsīha) (June 21, 1913 – September 9, 2003) was an eminent Sri Lankan Buddhist monk, who was the Mahanayaka of Amarapura sect from July 13, 1969 until his death on September 9, 2003. ...

in the late 1960s. 'Sri Lanka Amarapura Mahasangha Sabha' was formed and a common higher ordination ceremony for all Amarapura nikaya was performed at the Uposathagharaya situated at Siri Vajiranana Dharmayatanaya, Maharagama on July 13, 1969. The event was graced by the then head of State, Governor-General of Ceylon

William Gopallawa William Gopallawa (, ; 17 September 1896 – 31 January 1981) was the last Governor-General of Ceylon from 1962 to 1972 and became the first and only non-executive and ceremonial President of Sri Lanka when Ceylon declared itself a republic i ...

. A supreme

Mahanayaka Mahanayaka (also spelled as Maha Nayaka, Maha Nayake) theros are high-ranking Buddhist monks who oversee and regulate the Buddhist clergy in Theravada Buddhist countries. The title ''Maha Nayaka'' translates to English as 'Great Leader' and it is c ...

position for the Sri Lanka Amarapura Mahasangha Sabha was created with this initiative and Madihe Pannaseeha thero was appointed as the first monk to hold the prestigious title. In addition to the supreme Mahanayaka position a post for the president of the Amarapura Nikaya was created and Balangoda Ananda Maitreya thero was appointed as the first president of Amarapura Mahasangha Sabha. On 16th of August 2019, the Amarapura and

were unified as the Amarapaura-Ramanna Samagri Maha Sangha Sabha, making it the largest Buddhist fraternity in Sri Lanka. The following is a list of Supreme mahanayaka theros of the Amarapura Nikaya.

Sub-orders

Right before its unification into the

, the Amarapura Nikāya was divided into no less than 21 sub-orders. These sub orders are believed to have been formed along caste divisions and regional differences. # Amarapura Sirisaddhammawansa Maha Nikaya # Amarapura Mulawamsika Nikaya # Udarata Amarapura Nikaya # Amarapura Sabaragamu Saddhamma Nikaya # Saddhamma Yutthika (Matara) Nikaya # Dadalu Paramparayatta Amarapura Nikaya # Amarapura Mrammawansabhidhaja # Amarapura Vajirawansa Nikaya # Kalyanavansika Sri Dharmarama Saddhamma Yuttika Nikaya # Sri Lanka Svejin Maha Nikaya # Sabaragamu Saddhammawansa Nikaya # Amarapura Ariyavansa Saddhamma Yuttika Nikaya # Culagandhi Nikaya # Udarata Amarapura Samagri Sangha Sabhawa # Uva Amarapura Nikaya # Amarapura Sri Dhammarakshita Nikaya # Udukinda Amarapura Nikaya # Sambuddha Sasanodaya Sangha Sabhawa # Amarapura Maha Nikaya # Amarapura Nikaya # Sri Kalyaniwansa Nikaya

References

* Gombrich, Richard. ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo''. Oxon, England: Routledge and Kegan Paul, Ltd., 2004.
Rohan L. Jayetilleke, 'The bi-centennial of the Amarapura Maha Nikaya of Sri Lanka', ''Daily News'', 17 September 2003
accessed 16 December 2005.

(metta.lk) {{Buddhism in Sri Lanka Religious organizations established in 1800 Theravada Buddhist orders Schools of Buddhism founded in Sri Lanka 1800s establishments in Sri Lanka 2019 disestablishments in Sri Lanka

History

Significance

Amarapura Mahasangha Sabha

Sub-orders

See also

References