Kollupitiye Mahinda Sangharakkhitha Thera


Venerable Professor Kollupitiye Mahinda Sangharakkhitha Thera is the Chief Incumbent of the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara and Head of the Buddhist and Pali Faculty of the University of Kelaniya.

Early life

Educated at the Royal College, Colombo, He was born to Appuhami Dassanayake and Podihamine Dassanayake of Kollupitiya,Colombo. He is the fifth in the family of four brothers and two sisters. Brothers are Upali, Nimal, Nihal and Sunil and the sisters are Sudharma & Pushpa.

Priesthood

Becoming a monk in the 1960s under the guidance of the then chief incumbent of the Kelani Temple Ven. Thalewela Vijitha Dhammarakkhitha Thera, Sangharakkhitha Thera studied scripture at the Gangarama Temple in Hunupitiya and obtained graduated from the Vidyalankara Campus of the University of Ceylon studying Buddhist Philosophy and French language. Thereafter Sangharakkhitha Thera was awarded a two-year scholarship to study at the Sorbonne University to gain a postgraduate degree in French language. After which going on to gain a Masters and doctorate from the University of Delhi.
Returning to Sri Lanka, Sangharakkhitha Thera started lecturing at the University of Kelaniya, Faculty of Buddhist and Pali, later becoming a Professor. Sangharakkhitha Thera was appointed chief incumbent of the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara in 1992.
Sangharakkhitha Thera started a special Pirivena to teach Buddhism in the English language and has taken laudable steps to encourage the monks who are on missions all over the world.