Songdhammakalyani Monastery

Songdhammakalyani Monastery (Thai: ทรงธรรมกัลยาณีภิกษุณีอาราม; RTGS: Songthamkanlayani Phiksuni Aram) is a temple and monastery of Bhikkhuni in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand. It was founded in 1960 by Ven. Ta Tao Fa Tzu (born Voramai Kabilsingh), the first modern Thai woman to ordain as a bhikkhuni. The monastery was originally known as Wat Songdhammakalyani (the temple of women who uphold Dharma)."^[1]

Songkhammakalayani Monastery
A new building in the Wat Songkhammakalayani Temple complex
Religion
Affiliation	Theravada Buddhism
Location
Location	Nakhon Pathom
Country	Thailand
Architecture
Founder	Ven. Bhikkhuni Ta Tao Fa Tzu
Completed	1960
Website
http://www.songdhammakalyani.com/

Songdhammakalyani Monastery was founded by Voramai Kabilsingh, who became interested in Buddhism and meditation in 1954 after a meeting with Luang Pu Sodh, at Wat Paknam in Bangkok.^[2] In 1956, Voramai took the lower ordination, wearing yellow robes to distinguish herself from mae chi or bhikkhu, and developed a following of other yellow robed women.^[3] In 1957, she purchased land in Nakhon Pathom to build Songdhammakalyani Monastery for women, which became a full temple in 1960.^[4][5] The monastery was the first Buddhist monastery in Thailand established by and for women, and operated a primary school for orphans, a printing press for Buddhist publications and provided social services for the poor.^[6] Voramai took higher ordination as a full bhikkhuni in a Dharmaguptaka lineage in Taiwan in 1971 with the monastic name Ta Tao Fa Tzu.^{[7][8][9][10]} In 2001, Voramai's daughter took ordination as a samaneri, or female novice monk, and in 2003, she received full ordination in Sri Lanka, which recently reestablished the bhikkhuni order, and became known as Dhammananda Bhikkhuni. Dhammananda Bhikkhuni was the first modern Thai women to be ordained as a bhikkhuni in the Theravada lineage, resulting in Songdhammakalyani Monastery becoming the first and only monastery in Thailand for modern Theravada bhikkhuni.^[11] Dhammananda Bhikkhuni eventually became the abbess of the monastery.^[12]

Varanggana Vanavichayen, the first female monk ordained in Thailand, was ordained in Songdhammakalyani Monastery in 2002.

References

1. Songdhammakalyani Monastery:
2. Karma Lekshe Tsomo (25 August 2014). Eminent Buddhist Women. SUNY Press. pp. 61–70. ISBN 978-1-4384-5131-2. from the original on 3 May 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
3. Swearer, Donald K. (1995-01-01). The Buddhist World of Southeast Asia. SUNY Press. p. 154. ISBN 978-0-7914-2459-9. from the original on 2022-05-03. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
4. Mackenzie, Rory (2007-01-24). New Buddhist Movements in Thailand: Towards an Understanding of Wat Phra Dhammakaya and Santi Asoke. Routledge. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-134-13262-1. from the original on 2022-05-03. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
5. ""Mama Asia" at ABC.net". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 28 March 2013. from the original on 2017-04-21. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
6. Swearer, Donald K. (1995-01-01). The Buddhist World of Southeast Asia. SUNY Press. p. 154. ISBN 978-0-7914-2459-9. from the original on 2022-05-03. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
7. Christopher S. Queen; Sallie B. King (14 March 1996). Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia. SUNY Press. p. 269. ISBN 978-0-7914-2844-3. from the original on 3 May 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
8. Christopher S. Queen, Sallie B. King Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia, p. 269, at Google Books
9. Simba Shani Kamaria Russeau (November 1, 2013). "Thai Women Don Monks' Robes". Inter Press Service. from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved September 24, 2014. ...Venerable Voramai or Ta Tao Fa Tzu, became the first fully ordained Thai woman in the Mahayana lineage in Taiwan and turned their family home into a monastery.
10. Tsomo, Karma Lekshe (2014-08-25). Eminent Buddhist Women. SUNY Press. p. 68. ISBN 978-1-4384-5131-2. from the original on 2022-05-03. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
11. Clarke, Matthew; Halafoff, Anna (2016-08-25). Religion and Development in the Asia-Pacific: Sacred places as development spaces. Taylor & Francis. pp. 66–67. ISBN 978-1-317-64745-4. from the original on 2022-05-03. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
12. Buddhadharma:

13°48′51″N 100°05′34″E / 13.8142°N 100.0927°E / 13.8142; 100.0927