Half Century in Ordained Life

Ven. Makehelwala Vimaladhamma Thera, the chief incumbent of the historic Bambaragala Raja Maha Vihara at Waduwawa, Polgahawela and the Temple of Ihala Walakumbura in Alawwa, completes the 50th year in his ordained life.   

Ven. Vimaladhamma Thera was born at Makehelwala, a beautiful locality in the outskirts of Mawanella, as the sixth of ten siblings. Dasanayake Mudiyanselage Wijerathne and MunasingheMudiyanselage Bandaramenike were his parents. His lay name was Kulasena Wijerathne. He entered the order of Buddhist monks on  October 11, 1968 at the temple of Ihala Walakumbura in Alawwa under the tutelage of Ven. Mandawela Dhammarama Thera. He received his monastic education at Sri Shasthralankara Pirivena at Heramitigala and SunethradeviMaha Pirlvena, Pepiliyana. On June 22, 1980, he received his higher ordination Upasampada at the historic Mangala Uposathagara of the Malwatte Maha Vihara in Kandy. Following the demise of Ven. Mandawela Dhammarama Thera in 1988, he became the incumbent of the temple.   

His sermons have been broadcast over radio and TV and even on foreign tours he had the opportunity to preach to audiences

As a young monk adored by his associates, Ven. Vimaladhamma Thera was keen in rendering his service in both religious and social welfare. He established the Sri Dhammarama Dhamma School and Siri Perakum Funeral Aid and Welfare Society which are exceedingly beneficial to his lay adherents. He made the temple an all-complete one by adding various new structures such as a two storeyed audience hall, refectory, belfry, cloud-walled access way and Wahalkada entrance to the temple. He fetched in procession a sapling of the sacred Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi and planted it and built a fortification wall.   

The prelate is well-known for his eloquent discourse of the Buddha Dhamma. His sermons have been broadcast over radio and TV and even on foreign tours he had the opportunity to preach to audiences wherever he visited. For almost 30 years he has been offering the “Budusarana” paper to the devotees who observe sil on the Vesak poya day. He has provided shelter for several destitute families, too.   

Ven. Vimaladhamma Thera has been the registrar of the Sasanarakshaka Bala Mandalaya, Alawwa South and the patron of Ranaviru Sansadaya, Alawwa for more than a decade continuously. 

The most Ven. Maha Nayake Thera of Malwatte Chapter of the Siamese Sect offered him the incumbency of the historic Bambaragala Raja Maha Vihara at Waduwawa, Polgahawela on June 27, 2012. The sexagenarian monk has been the headmaster of Sri Dhammarama Dhamma School for 29 years. 

Let’s wish him every success in his endeavor to cause a religious and disciplined society for yet another half century. May Ven. Makehelwala Vimaladhamma Thera be free from suffering, illness and be happy!