Rāmañña Nikāya (රාමඤ්ඤ නිකාය, also spelled Ramanya Nikaya) was one of the three major Buddhist orders in Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1864 when Ambagahawatte Saranankara,[2] returned to Sri Lanka after being ordained by the Neyyadhamma Munivara Sangharaja of Ratnapunna Vihara in Burma. It was one of three Sri Lankan orthodox Buddhist monastic orders, along with Siam Nikaya and Amarapura Nikaya. On 16 August 2019, the Amarapura and Rammana Nikaya were unified as the Amarapura–Rāmañña Nikāya, making it the largest Buddhist fraternity in Sri Lanka.[3]
Rāmañña Nikāya was said to be similar to the Thammayut Nikaya order of Thailand.[how?] Rāmañña Nikāya is currently survived in Thailand, Burma and Sri Lanka.
Rāmañña Nikāya was established on 12 June 1864 in participation with Ven. Ambagahawatte Indaasabhawara Gaanasaami Maha Thera, Ven.Puwakdandawe Paññānanda, Ven.Warāpitiye Sumitta thera.
In the beginning, the Majority of monasteries of Rāmañña Nikāya were forest monasteries. Although many village temples have been emerged in modern days, the forest tradition is still being continued by Sri Kalyani Yogasrama Samstha of Rāmañña Nikāya which is the most strictest forest tradition in Sri Lanka.
Resistance to Modernization
Though it has been impossible to resist completely, many old and simple traditions have been still survived in Rāmañña Nikāya. The monks of the Nikaya can be distinguished by the traditions such as using palm leaf umbrellas and alms bowls and covering both shoulders while traveling. "Ramanna nikaya had its own distinctive style. They used begging bowls instead of plates. Instead of umbrellas, they used folded palmyrah leaves, in the form of “bogava”. The bogava introduced by Ambagahawatte was made usable by CB Nugawela, chairman of the Up country Sabha for the Protection of Nikaya. They wore robes that were dyed according to the traditional rules."[6]
Forest Dwelling and Meditation Practice
Many of the well known 'Forest Meditation Masters' and 'Forest Monasteries' are said to be in the former Rāmañña Nikāya. Most ven. Puwakdandawe Paññānanda Maha Thera was the pioneer of forest dwellers of Ramanna Nikaya. Most ven. Kadavedduve Jinavamsa Maha Thera was a well-known founder of Sri Kalyani Yogasrama Samstha the major forest sect of Ramanna Nikaya.
^Amarapura and Ramanna denominations unified, the Morning Lanka, accessed 2019.08.17
^"Ven. Napana Premasiri Thero appointed Mahanayaka of Ramanna Chapter". www.adaderana.lk. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
^Times, Colombo (2020-11-17). "Most Venerable Napane Pemasiri Thera, the 13th Mahanayake of the Sri Lanka Ramanna Maha Nikaya passes away at 98". Colombo Times. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
^Kamalika Pieris, Buddhist Nikayas in Sri Lanka part 3, May 5th, 2020
External links
Official website of the Sri Lanka Rāmañña Nikāya
The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism by Robert E. Buswell Jr., Donald S. Lopez Jr.,Princeton University Press,Princeton,2014,p. 696 :ISBN978-0-691-15786-3
January 07, 2023
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This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Ramanna Nikaya news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2014 Learn how and when to remove this template message Ramanna Nikaya ර මඤ ඤ න ක ය also spelled Ramanya Nikaya was one of the three major Buddhist orders in Sri Lanka It was founded in 1864 when Ambagahawatte Saranankara 2 returned to Sri Lanka after being ordained by the Neyyadhamma Munivara Sangharaja of Ratnapunna Vihara in Burma It was one of three Sri Lankan orthodox Buddhist monastic orders along with Siam Nikaya and Amarapura Nikaya On 16 August 2019 the Amarapura and Rammana Nikaya were unified as the Amarapura Ramanna Nikaya making it the largest Buddhist fraternity in Sri Lanka 3 Ramanna NikayaMerged intoAmarapura Ramanna NikayaFormation1864TypeBuddhist monastic orderHeadquartersMula Maha Vihara Payagala Kalutara Sri LankaLeaderMakulǣva Vimala TheraKey peopleMost Ven Ambagahawatte Indrasabhawara Gnanasami Maha Thera Founder Contents 1 Similar orders 2 Ascetic Tendency 3 Resistance to Modernization 4 Forest Dwelling and Meditation Practice 5 Mahanayaka Theros of Ramanna Nikaya 6 See also 7 References 8 External linksSimilar orders EditRamanna Nikaya was said to be similar to the Thammayut Nikaya order of Thailand how Ramanna Nikaya is currently survived in Thailand Burma and Sri Lanka The Most Ven Napana Premasiri Thero was appointed the Head of the Ramanna Nikaya on 3 September 2012 following the demise of Venenerable Weweldeniye Medhalankara Thera aged 103 4 5 Ramanna Nikaya was established on 12 June 1864 in participation with Ven Ambagahawatte Indaasabhawara Gaanasaami Maha Thera Ven Puwakdandawe Pannananda Ven Warapitiye Sumitta thera First Maha Nayaka Thero Most Ven Ambagahawatte Indrasabhawara Gnanasami Maha Thera Main Station Mula Maha Viharaya Payagala Kalutara Ascetic Tendency EditIn the beginning the Majority of monasteries of Ramanna Nikaya were forest monasteries Although many village temples have been emerged in modern days the forest tradition is still being continued by Sri Kalyani Yogasrama Samstha of Ramanna Nikaya which is the most strictest forest tradition in Sri Lanka Resistance to Modernization EditThough it has been impossible to resist completely many old and simple traditions have been still survived in Ramanna Nikaya The monks of the Nikaya can be distinguished by the traditions such as using palm leaf umbrellas and alms bowls and covering both shoulders while traveling Ramanna nikaya had its own distinctive style They used begging bowls instead of plates Instead of umbrellas they used folded palmyrah leaves in the form of bogava The bogava introduced by Ambagahawatte was made usable by CB Nugawela chairman of the Up country Sabha for the Protection of Nikaya They wore robes that were dyed according to the traditional rules 6 Forest Dwelling and Meditation Practice EditMany of the well known Forest Meditation Masters and Forest Monasteries are said to be in the former Ramanna Nikaya Most ven Puwakdandawe Pannananda Maha Thera was the pioneer of forest dwellers of Ramanna Nikaya Most ven Kadavedduve Jinavamsa Maha Thera was a well known founder of Sri Kalyani Yogasrama Samstha the major forest sect of Ramanna Nikaya Most ven Matara Sri Gnanarama Maha Thera Most ven Matale Silarakkhita Maha Thera Most ven Madawala dhammatilaka and Most ven Nauyane Ariyadhamma Maha Thera were well known meditation masters of Ramanna Nikaya Forest Tradition Mahanayaka Theros of Ramanna Nikaya EditThe following is a list of Mahanayaka theros of Sri Lanka Ramanna Nikaya Ven Ambagahawatte Indrasabhawara Gnanasami Maha Thera 1880 1886 අත ප ජ ය අඹගහවත ත ඉන ද ර සභවර ඤ ණස ම මහ ථ ර Ven Deepegoda Saddammawara Jothipala Seelakkandabidhana Maha Thero 1887 1916 අත ප ජ ය ද ප ග ඩ සද ධම මවර ජ ත ප ල ස ලක ඛන ධ භ ධ න මහ ථ ර Ven Obadakannde Siri Vimalananda Maha Thero 1917 1924 අත ප ජ ය ඕබඩකන ද ස ර ව මල නන දත ස ස මහ ථ ර Ven Matara Gnanindasaba Maha Thero 1924 1937 අත ප ජ ය ම තර ඤ ණ න ද සභ මහ ථ ර Ven Kodagoda Upasenabhidhana Maha Thero 1937 1939 අත ප ජ ය ක ද ග ඩ උපස න භ ධ න මහ ථ ර Ven Matale Dhammasiddhi Maha Thero 1939 1940 අත ප ජ ය ම තල ධම මස ද ධ මහ ථ ර Ven Karathota Siri Indasarathissa Maha Thero 1941 1954 අත ප ජ ය කරත ට ස ර ඉන දස රත ස ස මහ ථ ර Ven Hisselle Siri Gnanodaya Maha Thero 1954 1966 අත ප ජ ය හ ස ස ල ල ස ර ඤ ණ දය මහ ථ ර Ven Deepegoda Chandavimala Maha Thero 1966 1976 අත ප ජ ය ද ප ග ඩ චන දව මල මහ ථ ර Ven Induruwe Uttharanandabidhana Maha Thero 1976 1986 අත ප ජ ය ඉඳ ර ව උත තර නන ද භ ධ න මහ ථ ර Ven Pottewela Pannasara Maha Thero 1986 1997 අත ප ජ ය ප ත ත ව ල පඤ ඤ ස ර මහ ථ ර Ven Weweldeniye Medhalankara Maha Thero 1998 2012 අත ප ජ ය ව ව ල ද ණ ය ම ධ ල ක ර මහ ථ ර Ven Napana Pemasiri Maha Thero 2012 2020 අත ප ජ ය න ප න ප මස ර මහ ථ ර Ven Makulewe Wimala Maha Thero 2020 present අත ප ජ ය මක ල ව ව මල මහ ථ රSee also EditSri Lankan Buddhism Amarapura Ramanna Nikaya Ambagahawatte Indrasabhawara Gnanasami Maha TheraReferences Edit Payagalamulamahaviharaya tk Archived from the original on 2017 04 23 Retrieved 2015 10 25 The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism 2014 p 696 Amarapura and Ramanna denominations unified the Morning Lanka accessed 2019 08 17 Ven Napana Premasiri Thero appointed Mahanayaka of Ramanna Chapter www adaderana lk Retrieved 2020 11 18 Times Colombo 2020 11 17 Most Venerable Napane Pemasiri Thera the 13th Mahanayake of the Sri Lanka Ramanna Maha Nikaya passes away at 98 Colombo Times Retrieved 2020 11 18 Kamalika Pieris Buddhist Nikayas in Sri Lanka part 3 May 5th 2020External links EditOfficial website of the Sri Lanka Ramanna Nikaya Official website of Ven Weweldeniye Medhalankara Thera The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism by Robert E Buswell Jr Donald S Lopez Jr Princeton University Press Princeton 2014 p 696 ISBN 978 0 691 15786 3 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ramanna Nikaya amp 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