Amarapura Nikaya

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Walitota Sri Gnanawimalatisssa Maha Thera, the founder of Amarapura Nikaya.

Amarapura Nikaya is a Sri Lankan Buddhist sect (monastic order = gaṇa or nikāya ) that was founded in 1800. It was named after the city of Amarapura in Burma , the then capital of the Konbaung dynasty . Amarapura Nikaya is a sect of Theravada Buddhism .

history

In the middle of the 18th century, upasampada - the ascetic ordination to the bhikkhu (monk) in contrast to the sāmaṇera (śrāmaṇera, novice ordination) - died out in Sri Lanka. The Buddhist orders had become extinct three times in the past five hundred years and during the reigns of Vimaladharmasuriya I of Kandy (1591-1604) and Vimaladharmasuriya II (1687-1707). However, these innovations were short-lived. During this time the vinaya (the discipline of the order) had been almost completely abandoned and members of the Sangha in the Kingdom of Kandy owned land, had wives and children, resided in private homes and were known as "ganinnanses". On the initiative of Weliwita Sri Saranankara Thero (1698–1778), the Thai monk Upali Thera Kandy visited during the reign of Kirti Sri Rajasinha (1747–1782) and again founded religious Buddhism in Sri Lanka (1753). This sect was named Siam Nikaya after the country of origin Thailand .

1764, just a decade after the renovation, he managed a group within the newly founded Siam Nikaya, the ordination (upasampada) exclusive to members of Govigama - caste limit. During this time, the traditional nobles in the Kingdom of Kandy suffered great losses again and again, because there were constant wars with the Dutch rulers of the coastal provinces. There was also a change of power in the coastal provinces when a new order ousted the old one. Mandarampura Puvata , a text from the Kandy period, reports on the aforementioned radical changes in the monastic order and proves that it was not a unanimous decision of the Sangha. The text states that thirty-two 'elders' members of the Sangha who opposed this change were exiled to Jaffna by the reformers .

The exclusivity of ordination for members of the Govigama, secured in 1764, was challenged almost immediately by members of other castes who, without the patronage of the King of Kandy or the British Empire , held their own upasampada (ordination) at Totagamuwa Vihara in 1772. And again an Upasampada was held in Tangalle in 1798. None of these ceremonies were certified by the Siam Nikaya , but condemned as not conforming to the rules of the Vinaya . King Rajadhi Rajasinghe (1782–1798) had passed a law that restricted the right of access to higher ordination to members of the Govigama. Thus, the Buddhists in the coastal provinces were denied access to a valid ordination line. In the hope of changing this situation, wealthy lay people from the coastal provinces financed an expedition to Siam to establish a new monastic line.

In 1799 Walitota Sri Gnanawimalatisssa , a monk from the Salagama caste , set out from Balapitiya on the southwest coast of Sri Lanka to find a new line of succession for higher ordination in Siam together with a group of novices. Two Sahabandu Mudaliyars and other prominent Dayakayas covered the cost of this mission and made the necessary arrangements for the trip. On the way, however, the tour company experienced a situation in which the ship suddenly stopped moving. When the ship was afloat again, the Dutch captain of the ship pointed out that Buddhism in Amarapura, Burma, was much more flourishing than that in Siam at the time. The monk agreed to the captain's suggestion and through the intermediary of the Dutch consul in Hansawathy (Burma), the latter obtained the necessary letters of recommendation for the religious and secular authorities in Amarapura. The first bhikkhu was ordained in Burma by the Sangharaja of Burma in 1800 after his group had been welcomed to Burma by King Bodawpaya . The members of the group studied with the Sangharaja for two years.

The original group returned to Sri Lanka in 1803. Soon after their return they established the udakhupkhepa sima (a boat group) on Madu Ganga , Balapitiya, and under the guidance of the oldest Burmese bhikkhus who accompanied them, they held an Upasampada ceremony on Uposatha (festival day) Vesakh . The new order became known as "Amarapura Nikaya" after the city of King Bodawpaya.

Several subsequent trips to Burma by monks of the Karava and Durava castes created a core group of ordained monks by 1810 and created the necessary conditions for higher ordination of Amarapura Nikaya monks in Sri Lanka. Soon after, the order also received recognition from the British colonial government. The radical changes to the ordination regulations by the Siam Nikaya in 1764 and their continued existence despite the contradiction to the teachings of Gautama Buddha is a burden on Sri Lankan Buddhism to this day, as the caste division continues.

Amarapura Mahasangha Sabha

The Amaprapura Nikaya was divided into several sub-orders and was merged in the 1960s on the basis of initiatives by Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero and Madihe Pannaseeha Thero . The Sri Lanka Amarapura Mahasangha Sabha was created and a joint Upasampada ceremony for the entire Amarapura Nikaya was celebrated at the Uposathagharaya in Sri Vajiranana Dharmayatanaya , Maharagama on July 13, 1969. The then head of state, Governor-General of Ceylon William Gopallawa , also appeared at this event . A supreme Mahanayaka office for the Sri Lanka Amarapura Mahasangha Sabha was established and Madihe Pannaseeha Thero became the first official. In addition, the post of President of the Amarapura Nikaya was created and Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero became the first President of the Amarapura Mahasangha Sabha.

meaning

The establishment of the Amarapura Nikaya marked a change in the social dynamics of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. For the first time, a monastic line was not created through royal patronage, but through collective action by a group of devoted Buddhist lay people. The Amarapura Nikaya was therefore independent of government and royal power and more closely linked to its supporters from the growing middle class. This anticipated the growing power of the middle class in Sri Lanka in the 19th century and encouraged the emergence of something called Protestant Buddhism , in which greater power and authority rests with the lay people rather than the monastic authorities.

Supreme Mahanayaka (Chief Monk)

Surname Full name with honorary degrees From To
Kotugoda Dhammawasa Thera Dharmapala Wanshalankara Sadharama Keerthi Sri Tripitaka Visharadha Aggamaha Panditha Most Ven Kotugoda Dhammawasa Maha NayakaThero 3rd August 2017
Davuldena Sri Gnanissara Thero September 2003 3rd April 2017
Madihe Pannaseeha Thero July 13, 1969 September 9, 2003
Walitota Gnanawimalatisssa Maha Thera

Departments

Amarapura Maha Nikaya is divided into 21 branches of the order. It is assumed that these subdivisions were formed on the basis of caste boundaries.

  1. Amarapura Sirisaddhammawansa Maha Nikaya
  2. Amarapura Mulawamsika Nikaya
  3. Udarata Amarapura Nikaya
  4. Amarapura Sabaragamu Saddhamma Nikaya
  5. Saddhamma Yutthika (Matara) Nikaya
  6. Dadalu Paramparayatta Amarapura Nikaya
  7. Amarapura Mrammawansabhidhaja
  8. Amarapura Vajirawansa Nikaya
  9. Kalyanavansika Sri Dharmarama Saddhamma Yuttika Nikaya
  10. Sri Lanka Svejin Maha Nikaya
  11. Sabaragamu Saddhammawansa Nikaya
  12. Amarapura Ariyavansa Saddhamma Yuttika Nikaya
  13. Culagandhi Nikaya
  14. Udarata Amarapura Samagri Sangha Sabhawa
  15. Uva Amarapura Nikaya
  16. Amarapura Sri Dhammarakshita Nikaya
  17. Udukinda Amarapura Nikaya
  18. Sambuddha Sasanodaya Sangha Sabhawa
  19. Amarapura Maha Nikaya
  20. Amarapura Nikaya
  21. Sri Kalyaniwansa Nikaya

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ගණින්නාන්සේලා කියවිය යුතු සංඝරජ වැලවිට සරණංකර චරිතය
  2. ↑ Sri Lanka's devout defender of Buddhism. Retrieved June 12, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Olcott Gunasekera: Sinhala unity, the foundation of national unity . June 20, 2013. 
  4. ↑ lionel Yodhasinghe: State Funeral for Ven. Ananda Maitreya Thero . July 20, 1998.

literature

  • Richard Gombrich: Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo . Oxon, England: Routledge and Kegan Paul, Ltd. 2004.