The Taunggwin Sayadaw U Visuddha Silacaraha () was the last Buddhist monk to hold the office as Thathanabaing of Burma. The office was abolished after his death in 1938 and no successor was ever appointed. Visuddha was born Maung Hlut () on 13 November 1844 in

Amarapura Amarapura (, , ; 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 the north, and the ancient capital site of Ava ...

to a prominent Burmese family. His father, U Po, was a Burmese official and son of a ''Sitke'' (Deputy Commander-in-Chief), while his mother Me Shwe Wa, was the daughter of a high-ranking minister, the Kyauksauk Mingyi, Maha Thihathu. Visuddha's father died when he was three years of age and at the age of 9, he entered monastic life as a pupil, under the tutelage of U Adicca. Procession of Taunggwin Sayadaw

He was made a ''

samanera A (Pali; ), is a novice male monk in a Buddhist context. A female novice nun is in , and in or . In Tibetan Buddhism, a female novice nun is known by the Tibetan language term , and a male novice monk is a .thera Santorini (, ), officially Thira (, ) or Thera, is a Greek island in the southern Aegean Sea, about southeast from the mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago formed by the Santorini caldera. It is the southernmos ...

''. At the age of 19, Visuddha was fully ordained as a ''

bhikkhu A ''bhikkhu'' (, ) is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male, and female monastics (''bhikkhunī''), are members of the Sangha (Buddhist community). The lives of all Buddhist monastics are governed by a set of rules called the pratimok� ...

''. At the age of 25, he relocated to Mandalay and placed himself under the mentorship of the Maungdaung Sayadaw, a reputed scholar on the

Vinaya The Vinaya (Pali and Sanskrit: विनय) refers to numerous monastic rules and ethical precepts for fully ordained monks and nuns of Buddhist Sanghas (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). These sets of ethical rules and guidelines devel ...

. In 1873, King

Mindon Min Mindon Min (, ; 1808 – 1878), born Maung Lwin, was the penultimate king of Burma (Myanmar) from 1853 to 1878. He was one of the most popular and revered kings of Burma because of his role in the Fifth Buddhist Council. Under his half brothe ...

granted Visuddha the title of ''

sayadaw A sayadaw (, ; , and alternatively spelled ''hsayadaw'', ''sayado'', ''sayāḍo'' or ''sayāḍaw'') is a Burmese Buddhist title used to reference the senior monk or abbot of a monastery. The word is a combination of Sanskrit word "acharya" (te ...

'' ('royal teacher'). He then took independent charge of a monastery whose chief donor was the Chief Queen. In 1877, at the invitation of the Taunggwin Mingyi, the Sayadaw relocated and took charge of a group of monasteries known as the Taunggwin Kyaukdaik. When the Taungdaw Sayadaw held office as Thathanabaing, the Taunggwin Sayadaw was appointed as his Deputy, to decide differences between Buddhist monks and to enforce compliance with the Vinaya. The Daungdaw Sayadaw was appointed by King

Thibaw Min Thibaw Min, also Thebaw (, ; 1 January 1859 – 16 December 1916), was the last king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) and also the last Burmese monarch in the country's history. His reign ended when the Royal Burmese armed forces ...

, the last king of the

Konbaung Dynasty The Konbaung dynasty (), also known as the Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်), was the last dynasty that ruled Burma from 1752 to 1885. It created the second-largest empire in history of Mya ...

. In 1901, an assembly of 2,000 Buddhist monks elected the Moda Sayadaw as the Thathanabaing, a post that had been vacant since 1895, with the death of the Taungdaw Sayadaw. However, the Moda Sayadaw died soon afterward. On 24 October 1903, the Taunggwin Sayadaw was announced by the ''Burma Gazette'' as the Thathanabaing, having jurisdiction over only

Upper Burma Upper Myanmar ( or , also called Upper Burma) is one of two geographic regions in Myanmar, the other being Lower Myanmar. Located in the country's centre and north stretches, Upper Myanmar encompasses six inland states and regions, including ...

. He was formally installed to his office on 13 November 1903, at a '' darbar'' held at the Thudhamma

Zayat A zayat (; ; from ) is a Burmese building found in almost every village. It serves primarily as a shelter for travelers, at the same time, is also an assembly place for religious occasions as well as meeting for the villagers to discuss the n ...

Mandalay Mandalay is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. It is located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631 km (392 mi) north of Yangon. In 2014, the city had a population of 1,225,553. Mandalay was founded in 1857 by Ki ...

Notes

References

* * * * * * {{refend Theravada Buddhist monks Burmese Theravada Buddhists Burmese Buddhist monks People from Mandalay Region 1844 births 1938 deaths