Udugama Sri Buddharakkitha Thero (17 March 1930 - 8 April 2015) was a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

n Buddhist monk, who was the 20th

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 co ...

of the

Asgiriya chapter Asgiri Maha Viharaya (also called Asgiriya temple, Asgiriya Gedige) is a Buddhist monastery located in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is the headquarters of the Asgiriya chapter of Siyam Nikaya, one of the two Buddhist monasteries that holds the custodians ...

Siyam Nikaya The Siam (also Siyamopali and Siyam) Nikaya is a monastic order within Sri Lankan Buddhism, founded by Upali Thera of Siyam, on the initiatives taken by Weliwita Sri Saranankara thera to revive Buddhism in Sri Lanka in the mid 18th century. A ...

.Tribute to an erudite Mahanayake
Kumar Wettasinghe, Daily Mirror He was presented with the religious title of

Agga Maha Pandita Aggamahāpaṇḍita (, ) is an honorific Burmese Buddhist title conferred by the Myanmar government to distinguished Theravada Buddhist monks. Etymology Aggamahāpandiṭa, meaning "foremost great and wise one," is derived from the following ...

by the government of

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

on March 7, 2007, in recognition of his contribution to the purification, perpetuation and propagation of Buddhism. His complete title was Most Venerable Agga Maha Panditha Udugama Sddharmakirthi Sri Dhammadassi Rathanapala Buddharakkhithabhidhana Mahanayaka Thero.

Biography

Udugama Sri Buddharakkitha Thera was born on March 17, 1930, at Udugama village in Wariyapola Kalugamuwa in the

Kurunegala District Kurunegala is a district in North Western Province, Sri Lanka. The district is . It consists of thirty divisional secretariats, 1,610 grama niladari divisions and 4,476 villages. It has fourteen electoral divisions, two municipal councils, nin ...

, to the family of J. M. Punchi Banda and Muthu Menike. Before entering the order of

Maha Sangha Sangha or saṃgha () is a term meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community". In a political context, it was historically used to denote a governing assembly in a republic or a kingdom, and for a long time, it has been used b ...

, he received his primary education at the government school in Udugama. He entered the order of Buddhist monks as a novice at the Asgiri Maha Vihara on July 21, 1945, and received his higher ordination Upasampada at the historic ''Mangala Upostagara'' of Asgiri Maha Viharaya on June 12, 1951 at the age of 21. As 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 .Matale Matale ( Sinhala: මාතලේ, , , ) is a major city in Central Province, Sri Lanka. It is the administrative capital and largest urbanised city of Matale District. Matale is also the second largest urbanised and populated city in Central P ...

. He was a pupil of the late Mahanayake of the Asgiri Chapter, the Udugama Sri Buddharakkhita Ratanapalabhidhana Mahanayake Thera (1893-1970). In 1966, Buddharakkitha Thera was appointed a member of the prestigious ''Karaka Maha Sangha Sabha'', of the Asgiriya chapter. On many occasions he functioned as the Chief Custodian of Services to the

Sacred Tooth Relic The relic of the tooth of Buddha (Pali ''danta dhātuya'') is venerated in Sri Lanka as a sacred cetiya relic of the Buddha and primarily refers to the purported tooth at the Temple of the Tooth, but can also refer to the one believed to be at So ...

Sri Dalada Maligawa Sri Dalada Maligawa, commonly known in English as the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, is a Buddhist temple in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is located in the Royal Palace Complex of the former Kingdom of Kandy, which houses the relic of the tooth of ...

Kandy Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of ...

. Udugama Sri Buddharakkitha Thera was appointed Chief Incumbent of Dambulla Rajamaha Viharaya in 1992. In the year 1998, he was elevated to the post of Anunayaka of the Asgiriya Chapter of Siyam Nikaya. On December 13, 1999, he was appointed to the supreme post as the Mahanayake of the Asgiriya chapter, after the demise . As a missionary, he visited several foreign countries on numerous occasions such as Korea, Thailand, Japan, India, Singapore, Taiwan, China, Tibet, Hong Kong, Burma and Cambodia for the propagation of Buddhism. Udugama Sri Buddharakkitha Thero was admitted to

Mount Elizabeth Hospital Mount Elizabeth Hospital, known colloquially as Mount E, is a 345-bed private hospital in Singapore operated by Parkway Health. Construction began in 1976 and the hospital officially opened on 8 December 1979. The hospital specialises in card ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

on 10 March 2015, after falling ill for few weeks. He has undergone a

kidney transplant Kidney transplant or renal transplant is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). Kidney transplant is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantat ...

operation few years earlier. He received treatment for

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

and kidney disease at the hospital until 6 April 2015, when his condition deteriorated and was immediately transferred to the intensive care unit, where he eventually died two days later on 8 April 2015. He was 85 years old at the time of his death. As a mark of respect, the government of Sri Lanka has declared April 12, 2015, the day on which Mahanayake Thera's final rites were observed, as a day of National Mourning in the country. Udugama Sri Buddharakkitha Thero was succeeded by Galagama Sri Aththadassi Thera as the 21st Mahanayaka of the Asgiriya Chapter.New Asgiriya Mahanayaka Thera

References

External links

Most Venerable Udugama Sri Dhammadassi Rathnapala Buddharakkhita Mahanayake Thero.- Asgiriya Chapter

Past Mahanayake Theros of Asgiriya Monastery

Aggamahapanditha Udugama Sri Buddharakkitha Thero
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buddharakkitha Thero, Udugama Sri 1930 births 2015 deaths Theravada Buddhist monks Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhists Sri Lankan Buddhist monks 20th-century Sri Lankan monks People from North Western Province, Sri Lanka Sinhalese people

Biography

See also

References

External links