Malwathu Maha Viharaya

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Malwathu Maha Vihara
මල්වතු මහා විහාරය
MONASTRY AT KANDY LAKE SRI LANKA JAN 2013 (8900839218).jpg
Entrance to the Malwatu Maha Viharaya
Religion
Affiliation Buddhism
District Kandy
Province Central Province
Location
Location Kandy, Sri Lanka
Malwathu Maha Viharaya
Geographic coordinates 07°17′23.6″N80°38′28.9″E / 7.289889°N 80.641361°E / 7.289889; 80.641361
Architecture
Type Buddhist Temple
Founder Sena Sammatha Wickramabahu (1473–1511)

Malwathu Maha Viharaya (also called Malwatta Temple) is a Buddhist monastery located in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is the headquarters of the Malwatta Chapter of Siyam Nikaya and one of the two Buddhist monasteries that holds the custodianship of sacred tooth relic of Buddha kept in Sri Dalada Maligawa, Kandy. The Chief Incumbent of the Malwathu Maha Viharaya is the Mahanayaka Thera of Malwatta Chapter of Siyam Nikaya, a leading Buddhist monastic fraternity in Sri Lanka. The present Chief Incumbent of Malwathu Maha Viharaya is Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera.

Contents

History

This temple is believed to be built by Senasammatha Vikramabahu (1473–1511) along with a stupa and a double storey ordination hall (Uposhathagaraya) in the late 15th century or early 16th century. [1] It was originally built as the residence of three monks but today it houses many Buddhist monks including the monks of Karaka Sangha Sabha (Executive Council) of Malwatta Chapter of Siyam Nikaya. The building known as ‘poya ge’ is used as the assembly hall for the important meetings of the monastic fraternity. This building was built during the reign of King of Kandy Kirti Sri Rajasinha.

The monastery

Malwathu Maha Viharaya consists of two sections, the Uposatha Viharaya which is also known as Poyamalu Viharaya and the other Pushparama Viharaya popularly known as Malwathu Viharaya. [1] Poyamalu Viharaya is the oldest section of the Vihara complex which is today recognised as an archaeologically protected monument. [2]

Chief Incumbents

The following is a list of Chief Incumbents of Malwathu Maha Viharaya, Kandy who are also the Mahanayaka Theras of Malwatta Chapter of Siyam Nikaya. Appointment of senior Buddhist monks to the Mahanayaka position in Sri Lanka began with the re-establishment of Upasampada in 1753 on the initiatives taken by Sangharaja Weliwita Sri Saranankara Thera during the reign of King of Kandy Kirti Sri Rajasinha.

List of Chief Incumbents [3]

NamePeriod
Tibbatuwawe Sri Buddha Rakkitha Thera තිබ්බටුවාවේ ශ්‍රී බුද්ධරක්ඛිත හිමි1753–1773
Medawala Sri Rathana Jothi Thera මැදවල ශ්‍රී රතනජෝති මහා ථේර1773–1774
Daramitipola Sri Dhamma Rakkitha Thera දරමිටිපොල ශ්‍රී ධම්මරක්ඛිත හිමි1774–1787
Morathota Rajaguru Sri Dammakannda Thera මොරතොට රාජගුරු ශ්‍රී ධම්මකකන්ද මහා ථේර1787–1811
Kobekaduwe Rajaguru Siriniwasa Thera කොබ්බෑකඩුවේ රාජගුරු සිරිනිවාස මහා ථේර1811–1819
Welivita Sri Saranakara Thera වැලිවිට ශ්‍රී සරණංකර මහා ථේර1819–1822
Gammulle Sri Sumana Thera ගම්මුල්ලේ ශ්‍රී සුමන මහා ථේර1822–1825
Kotikapola Sri Rathanajothi Thera කොටිකාපොල ශ්‍රී රතනජෝති මහා ථේර1825–1826
Kandegedara Sri Rewatha Thera කන්දෙගෙදර ශ්‍රී රේවත මහා ථේර1826–1829
Galgiriyawe Sri Sumangala Thera ගල්ගිරියාවේ ශ්‍රී සුමංගල මහා ථේර1829–1850
Parakumbure Sri Wipassi Thera පරකුබුරේ ශ්‍රී විපස්සි මහා ථේර1850–1862
Medagama Sri Dewamitta Thera මැදගම ශ්‍රී දේවමිත්ත මහා ථේර1862–1877
Hippola Sri Sobhitha Thera හිප්පොල ශ්‍රී ශෝබිත මහා ථේර1877–1893
Tibbotuwawe Sri Sumangala Thera තිබ්බොටුවාවේ ශ්‍රී සුමංගල මහා ථේර1893–1913
Galgiriyawe Sri Buddharakkitha Thera ගල්ගිරියාව ශ්‍රී බුද්ධරක්ඛිත මහා ථේර1913–1919
Amunugama Sri Piyadassi Thera අමුණුගම ශ්‍රී පියදස්සි මහා ථේර1919–1924
Abanwelle Sri Sumangala Thera අබන්වැල්ලේ ශ්‍රී සුමංගල මහා ථේර1924–1927
Pahamune Sri Sumangala Thera පහමුනේ ශ්‍රී සුමංගල මහා ථේර1927–1945
Rambukwelle Sri Sobhitha Thera රඹුක්වැල්ලේ ශ්‍රී සෝභිත මහා ථේර1946–1955
Welivita Sri Saranankara Thera වැලිවිට ශ්‍රී සරණංකර මහා ථේර1955–1956
Purijjala Sri Saranankara Thera පුරිජ්ජල ශ්‍රී සරණංකර මහා ථේර1956–1963
Amunugama Sri Wipassi Thera අමුණුගම ශ්‍රී විපස්සි මහා ථේර1964–1969
Madugalle Sri Dhamma Siddhi Thera මඩුගල්ලේ ශ්‍රී ධම්මසිද්ධි හිමි1969–1973
Sirimalwatte Sri Ananda Thera සිරිමල්වත්තේ ශ්‍රී ආනන්ද හිමි1973–1989
Rambukwelle Sri Vipassi Thera රබුක්වැල්ලේ ශ්‍රී විපස්සි මහා ථේර1989–2004
Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera තිබ්බටුවාවේ ශ්‍රී සිද්ධාර්ථ සුමංගල මහා ථේර2004–present

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Malwatu Maha Viharaya at Kandy – මල්වතු මහා විහාරය". amazinglanka. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  2. Gazette 1677 & 22 October 2010, p. 1750.
  3. "Malwatta Monastery". Sri Dalada Maligawa - Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. Retrieved 20 January 2023.

Works cited