Ven. Weligama Sri Sumangala Thera | |
|---|---|
| Personal life | |
| Born | 1825 |
| Died | March 13, 1905(1905-03-13) (aged 80)[1] |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Occupation | Religious leader |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Buddhism |
| School | Amarapura Nikaya[1] (Theravada-Sri Lanka) |
Weligama Sri Sumangala Thera (1825–1905)[1] was an outstandingbhikkhu scholar with many important publications – Hitopadsesa Atthadassi, Hitopadsesa Padarthavykanaya, Upadesa Vinischaya, Siddanta Sekaraya. His work Siddhanta Sekharaya of 700 pages was printed at the Government Press in 1897. He established Saugathodaya Vidyalaya atRankoth Viharaya inPanadura. He was a close associate ofSir Edwin Arnold the author ofThe Light of Asia.[2] He is responsible for encouraging Arnold andAnagarika Dharmapala to advocate for the renovation ofBuddhagaya and its return to Buddhist care.[3][4][5]
Weligama Sri Sumangala, aBuddhist High Priest ofCeylon, and a distinguished scholar whose place it will be hard to fill. He was in his eighty-second year and had led a life of remarkable usefulness. Born inWeligama, he came of one of the oldest and most respected families of the southern provinces. His father intended him to follow themedical profession but a serious illness compelled him to relinquish the plan, while the suffering he experienced at the time led him to abandon wealth and ease and give his life to the service of humanity. He entered theBuddhist priesthood when only twelve years of age, and received his education under the High PriestBentota who was one of the most famousSanskrit scholars of his day.[6]
The Rev. Sumangala belonged to theAmarapura Nikaya ofBuddhist priests, and in 1894[1] his colleagues inCeylon unanimously elected him as their Chief High Priest,[1] at the same time bestowing upon him a distinguished title. He lived and dressed as did the Buddhist monks at the time ofBuddha more than twenty centuries ago,[1] and was a noble representative of the religion of "The Enlightened One" in its original and purest form. His whole life has been characterised by a single-minded devotion to the uplifting of mankind, and he was beloved and appreciated by high and low,Buddhist andChristian.[1] Reports of the impressive ceremonies at his cremation state variously.