Melbourne prelate completes 35 years of ordination

The Sakayamuni Sambuddha Vihara in Berwick, Melbourne provides religious guidance to over 3000 Sri Lankan Buddhists living in the neighbourhood while disseminating Dhamma through a well established Dhamma school, in which over 200 pupils are enrolled at present.

There is also a Buddhist youth group that meets once a month conducting discussions on the Dhamma and learn meditation practices. The graduates from the Dhamma school join the Youth Group to continue with their Buddhist education and spiritual development.

The temple has witnessed a progressive growth under the patronage of the chief incumbent Ven Digamadulle Wimalananda Thera.

At present the temple is one of the most active centres among the Sri Lankan Buddhists domiciled in Victoria. Following the guidance imparted by late Ven Soma Maha Thera, the Thera actively participates in the Victorian Buddhist Council, an umbrella organisation for all Buddhist traditions in Victoria. Ven Wimalananda Thera completes 35 years of higher ordination having entered the Sasana in January 1976.

He received his higher ordination in 1978 and studied the Dhamma under the tutelage of the Most Ven Madihe Pannaseeha Maha Nayake Thera and the Most Ven Ampitiye Rahula Maha Thera at the Siri Vajiragnana Bhikkhu Training Centre, Maharagama.

Ven Wimalananda Thera passed the Pracheena Panditha examination, which normally requires around 10 years of study, within six years. In 1987, he successfully completed the MA degree at the Pali and Buddhist University with upper second-class honours.

Ven Thera was a member of the tutorial staff of the Siri Vajiragnana Dhammma School and Siri Vajiragnana Dhamma Institute from 1980. He migrated to Australia in 1998. The chief incumbent of the temple at that time was Ven Soma Maha Thera who served the Buddhist public in Australia and in Sri Lanka.

Ven Wimalananda Thera became the chief incumbent of the temple after the untimely death of Ven Soma Maha Thera in 2004. The grateful followers of Dhamma at the temple and the management committee felicitated Ven Wimalananda Thera at the 2600th Sambuddhathwa Jayanthi celebrations.