Malwathu Maha Viharaya

Malwathu Maha Vihara
Malwathu Maha Vihara
මල්වතු මහා විහාරය
	Entrance to the Malwatu Maha Viharaya
Religion
Affiliation	Buddhism
District	Kandy
Province	Central Province
Location
Location	Kandy, Sri Lanka
Geographic coordinates	07°17′23.6″N 80°38′28.9″E / 7.289889°N 80.641361°ECoordinates: 07°17′23.6″N 80°38′28.9″E / 7.289889°N 80.641361°E
Architecture
Type	Buddhist Temple
Founder	Sena Sammatha Wickramabahu (1473-1511)

Malwathu Maha Viharaya (also called Malwatta temple) is a Buddhist monastery located in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is the headquarters of the Malwatta chapter of Siyam Nikaya and one of the two Buddhist monasteries that holds the custodianship of sacred tooth relic of Buddha kept in Sri Dalada Maligawa, Kandy. The chief incumbent of the Malwathu Maha Viharaya is the Mahanayaka thero of Malwatta chapter of Siyam nikaya, a leading Buddhist monastic fraternity in Sri Lanka. The present chief incumbent of Malwathu Maha Viharaya is Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thero.

History[]

This temple is believed to be built by Senasammatha Vickramabahu (1473-1511) along with a stupa and a double storey ordination hall (Uposhathagaraya) in the late 15th century or early 16th century.^[1] It was originally built as the residence of three monks but today it houses many Buddhist monks including the monks of Karaka Sangha Sabha (executive council) of Malwatta chapter of Siyam Nikaya. The building known as ‘poya ge’ is used as the assembly hall for the important meetings of the monastic fraternity. This building was built during the reign of king Kirti Sri Rajasinha of Kandy.

The monastery[]

Malwathu Maha Viharaya consists of two sections, the Uposatha Viharaya which is also known as ‘Poyamalu Viharaya’ and the other Pushparama Viharaya popularly known as Malwathu Viharaya.^[1] Poyamalu Viharaya is the oldest section of the Vihara complex which is today recognized as an archaeologically protected monument.^[2]

Chief Incumbents[]

The following is a list of chief incumbents of Malwathu Maha Viharaya, Kandy who are also the Mahanayaka theros of Malwatta chapter of Siyam Nikaya. Appointment of senior Buddhist monks to the Mahanayaka position in Sri Lanka began with the re-establishment of Upasampada higher ordination in 1753 on the initiatives taken by Sangharaja Weliwita Sri Saranankara Thero during the reign of king Kirti Sri Rajasinha of Kandy.

(1753–1773) - තිබ්බොටුවාවේ ශ්‍රී බුද්ධරක්කිත මහා ථේර
(1773–1774) - මැදවල ශ්‍රී රතනජෝති මහා ථේර
(1774–1787) - දරමිටිපොල ශ්‍රී ධම්මරක්කිත මහා ථේර
(1787–1811) - මොරතොට රාජගුරු ශ්‍රී ධම්මකකන්ද මහා ථේර
(1811–1819) - කොබ්බෑකඩුවේ රාජගුරු සිරිනිවාස මහා ථේර
(1819–1822) - වැලිවිට ශ්‍රී සරණංකර මහා ථේර
(1822–1825) - ගම්මුල්ලේ ශ්‍රී සුමන මහා ථේර
(1825–1826) - කොටිකාපොල ශ්‍රී රතනජෝති මහා ථේර
(1826–1829) - කන්දෙගෙදර ශ්‍රී රේවත මහා ථේර
(1829–1850) - ගල්ගිරියාවේ ශ්‍රී සුමංගල මහා ථේර
(1850–1862) - පරකුබුරේ ශ්‍රී විපස්සි මහා ථේර
(1862–1877) - මැදගම ශ්‍රී දේවමිත්ත මහා ථේර
(1877–1893) - හිප්පොල ශ්‍රී ශෝබිත මහා ථේර
(1893–1913) - තිබ්බොටුවාවේ ශ්‍රී සුමංගල මහා ථේර
(1913–1919) - ගල්ගිරියාවේ ශ්‍රී බුද්ධරක්කිත මහා ථේර
(1919–1924) - අමුණුගම ශ්‍රී පියදස්සි මහා ථේර
(1924–1927) - අබන්වැල්ලේ ශ්‍රී සුමංගල මහා ථේර
(1927–1945) - පහමුනේ ශ්‍රී සුමංගල මහා ථේර
(1946–1955) - රබුක්වැල්ලේ ශ්‍රී සෝබිත මහා ථේර
(1955–1956) - වැලිවිට ශ්‍රී සරණංකර මහා ථේර
(1956–1963) - පුරිජ්ජල ශ්‍රී සරණංකර මහා ථේර
(1964–1969) - අමුණුගම ශ්‍රී විපස්සි මහා ථේර
(1969–1973) - සිරිමල්වත්තේ ශ්‍රී ධම්මසිද්දි මහා ථේර
(1973–1989) - සිරිමල්වත්තේ ශ්‍රී ආනන්ද මහා ථේර
(1989–2004) - රබුක්වැල්ලේ ශ්‍රී විපස්සි මහා ථේර
Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thero (2004– ) - තිබ්බොටුවාවේ ශ්‍රී සිද්දාර්ත සුමංගල මහා ථේර

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Malwatu Maha Viharaya at Kandy – මල්වතු මහා විහාරය". amazinglanka. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
^ Gazette 1677 & 22 October 2010, p. 1750.

External links[]

"PART I : SECTION (I) — GENERAL Government Notifications" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. 1677. 22 October 2010.
Sri Dalada Maligawa (official website)
Fenandiz, Minolma. "Malwathu Maha Viharaya". Kandycity.org.