Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thera

Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thera
Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Nayaka Thera
TitleThripitaka Vaagishwaracharya[1]
Chief of Siyam Nikaya[1]
Chief Monk of Sri Pada[2]
Chief Monk of Colombo Nawa Korale
Chief Monk of Galle District
Personal
Born
Nicholas Gunawardhana

(1827-01-20)20 January 1827
Died29 April 1911(1911-04-29) (aged 84)
ReligionBuddhism
NationalitySri Lankan
Parent(s)Mr. Don Johannes Abeweera Gunawardhana (father)
Mrs. Dandangoda Gamage Christina (mother)
SchoolTheravada
LineageSiyam Nikaya
EducationParama Dhamma Chetiya Pirivena, Ratmalana
Senior posting
TeacherWalane Sri Siddhartha Maha Thera

Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thera (Sinhala: හික්කඩුවේ ශ්‍රි සුමංගල නාහිමි; 20 January 1827 – 29 April 1911) was a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk, who was one of the pioneers of Sri Lankan Buddhist revivalist movement in the 19th century.[3] He did a great service to improve the Buddhist Education in the country and was the founder of Vidyodaya Pirivena, Maligakanda in 1873, which was granted the university status later in 1959 by the Government of Sri Lanka.[3] A veteran author and a fiery orator, he was a major figure in the Panadurawadaya, a religious debate held between Christian missionaries and Buddhist monks in 1873 at Panadura, Sri Lanka.[4] He was well versed in Sinhala, Pali, Sanskrit, English, Buddhism, history, arithmetic, and archaeology and was one of the primary sources of information on Buddhism for the success of the Panadura debate.[5]

  1. ^ a b Peiris, Gopitha (April 2006). "Most Venerable Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Nayaka Thera remembered". Daily News Online. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference S was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Wijetunge, Ratna (29 April 2009). "The great Buddhist revivalist". Daily News Online. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  4. ^ Goonatilake, Hema (May 30, 2010). "Edwin Arnold and the Sri Lanka connection". Sunday Times. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  5. ^ Defeating Adversaries: Wadeehasinha Migettuwaththe Gunananda Thera, Lankaweb, Dr. Daya Hewapathirane