Kollupitiye Mahinda Sangharakkhitha Thera is the Chief Incumbent (Chief Priest) of the

Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara The Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara or Kelaniya Temple is a Buddhist temple in Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. It is located north-east of Colombo. The current chief incumbent (chief priest) is Venerable Professor Kollupitiye Mahinda Sangharakkhitha Thera. The ...

and Head of the Buddhist and Pali Faculty of the

University of Kelaniya Pannaya Parisujjhati , mottoeng = Self-purification is by insight , established = 1875 Vidyalankara Pirivena1959 Vidyalankara University , type = Public , endowment = , adminis ...

Early life

Educated at the

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo is a selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in Janua ...

, He was born to Appuhami Dassanayake and Podihamine Dassanayake of Kollupitiya, Colombo. He is the fifth in the family of four brothers and two sisters. Brothers are Upali, Nimal, Nihal and Sunil and the sisters are Sudharma & Pushpa.

Priesthood

Becoming a monk in the 1960s under the guidance of the then chief incumbent of the Kelani Temple Thalewela Vijitha Dhammarakkhitha Thera, Sangharakkhitha Thera studied scripture at the Gangarama Temple in Hunupitiya and obtained graduated from the Vidyalankara Campus of the

University of Ceylon The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univer ...

studying Buddhist Philosophy and French language. Thereafter Sangharakkhitha Thera was awarded a two-year scholarship to study at the

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University (french: Sorbonne Université; la Sorbonne: 'the Sorbonne') is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon ...

to gain a postgraduate degree in French language. After which going on to gain a Masters and doctorate from the

University of Delhi Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE) ...

. Returning to Sri Lanka, Sangharakkhitha Thera started lecturing at the University of Kelaniya, Faculty of Buddhist and Pali, later becoming a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

. Sangharakkhitha Thera was appointed chief incumbent of the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara in 1992. Sangharakkhitha Thera started a special

Pirivena A pirivena (plural: piriven) is a monastic college for the education of monks in Sri Lanka. In ancient time, they were also centers of secondary and higher education for lay people. As of 2018, 753 piriven have been founded and maintained by the Mi ...

to teach Buddhism in the English language. Sangharakkhitha Thera was appointed

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

in 2021.

References

External links

Development Boards to improve standards of schools
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thera, Kollupitiye Mahinda Sangharakkhitha Living people Theravada Buddhist monks Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhists Sri Lankan Buddhist monks Sinhalese academics Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Delhi University alumni University of Paris alumni Alumni of the University of Ceylon Academics of the University of Kelaniya Year of birth missing (living people)