Young Men's Buddhist Association

"YMBA" redirects here. For the organisation in Myanmar, see Young Men's Buddhist Association (Burma). For the airport in Australia, see Mareeba Airport.
Barrister Don Baron Jayatilaka, President of the YMBA Colombo, pre 1920.

The YMBA, or Young Men's Buddhist Association, was created in Sri Lanka in 1898. The main founder was C. S. Dissanayake[1] as part of a bid to provide Buddhist institutions as an alternative to YMCA, otherwise known as the Young Men's Christian Association. It has had many famous presidents such as philanthropists Ernest de Silva and Henry Woodward Amarasuriya. It also exists in other countries, although they are independent organizations.

  1. ^ Human Rights Watch (2009), The Resistance of the Monks: Buddhism and Activism in Burma, p. 12.