Myanmar confers ‘Aggamahapanditha’ on Most Ven. Inguruwatte Piyananda Maha Nayaka Thera

The State ceremony to award ‘Aktha Pathra’ and ‘Vijini Patha’ to Most Venerable Inguruwatte Piyananda Maha Nayaka Thera who has been conferred with the ‘Aggamahapanditha’ Honorary Title by the Myanmar Government will be held on December 2 at the Siyane Vipassana International Meditation Centre at Kanduboda, Delgoda under the patronage of the Prime Minister Dinesh Gunewardena.

Most Venerable Inguruwatte Piyananda Maha Nayaka Thera who is the Chief Incumbent of the Siyane Vipassana International Meditation Centre at Kanduboda and Vipassana Meditation Centre at Lellopitiya, Ratnapura and Mahanayaka of the Swejin Maha Nikaya of the Amarapura Nikaya has been conferred with the ‘Aggamahapanditha’ Honorary Title by the Myanmar Government to honour his service to Buddha Sasana and especially to honour his service to propagating Vipassana Meditation.

The event will also be attended by Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs Minister Vidura Wickramanayaka and Myanmar’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Organising Committee Secretary and retired Public Trustee Department Secretary Sunethra Udabage Samarasekera said.

The event will be presided by Most Venerable Karagoda Uyangoda Maithri Murthy Maha Nayaka Thera (Master of Education) President, Sri Lanka Amarapura Maha Sangha Sabha and Maha Sangha of the three chapters will attend.

From the year 2009 till now, Most Venerable Inguruwatte Piyananda Maha Nayaka Thera has been heading the Siyane Vipassana International Meditation Centre at Kanduboda.

The Thera has taken numerous measures to propagate Dhamma and Vipassana Meditation to both local and foreign devotees over the years.

The Ven. Thera has also done yeomen service to reignite the Buddhist ties between Sri Lanka and Myanmar in recent times.

The Siyane Vipassana Meditation Centre at Kanduboda came in to being in 1956 under the patronage of the late Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw, a most venerated meditation master from Burma (Myanmar).

Both local and foreign devotees are welcomed at the centre to discover the fountain of wisdom within themselves through Vipassana (Insight) and without any charges.

The centre offers Vipassana meditation instruction in the style of Mahasi Sayadaw of Burma. The meditation centre can accommodate up to 70 meditators at a time. Accommodation, meals and services are offered free of charge, the centre being funded by donations. Programmes are designed for meditators to stay for a number of weeks or months.

At the inception the society with the help from the Government, made a formal request to the main meditation centre in Burma the Thathana Yeiktha meditation centre to send teachers to Sri Lanka to begin meditation courses for laypersons and monks. The chief in charge of this meditation centre the Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw U. Sobhana Thera accepted the request after having long discussions with Venerable Kahatapitiya Sumathipala Thera who was in Burma when the request came. Soon after this Ven. Sumathipala Thera returned to Sri Lanka and organised the arrangements here. With his help the lay society acquired land for the first meditation centre and laid other plans for promoting Vipassana meditation.

On July 28, 1955, a Burmese delegation of four theras led by U. Sajata, a close assistant to Mahasi Sayadaw, arrived in Sri Lanka. Under their guidance and with help from locals a complete meditation centre was built in about six months at Kanduboda, a serene suburb 25kms from Colombo. On January 8, 1956 the Kanduboda Siyane meditation centre was officially declared open. Ven Kahatapitiye Sumathipala Thera was elected as the chief instructor and in-charge of the meditation centre as an honour to his immense commitment to the creation of the meditation centre.

Under Most Venerable Inguruwatte Piyananda Maha Nayaka Thera the centre has grown exponentially to allow more devotees to learn meditation and engage in meditation.

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