Venerable Mahawewa Mahinda Thero

Born in 1968 in the Mahawewa Visithuna settlement, in the Thanamalwila divisional secretariat of the Monaragala district, he was the fifth of seven children. He was raised under the care of his father — a well-loved social worker who served the district for years as its marriage registrar — and of his mother, who led a devout life marked by great human kindness.

He began his schooling at Agunukolapelessa Maha Vidyalaya. From childhood he kept the company of the “Seemapawura” forest hermitage near his village, and the goodness of its chief monk settled so deeply in him that the wish to enter the Order took shape in his young mind.

With the full blessing of both parents, on 22 April 1978 he came with his father to the ancient Naga Maha Viharaya at Yodhakandiya, Tissamaharama, and grew up under the guidance of its then Chief Incumbent, the Venerable Godawela Sri Somaloka Nayaka Thero, a scholar of literature — preparing himself for the noble life of renunciation.

After studying at the nearby Yodhakandiya Sri Devananda Maha Vidyalaya, he entered the Order on Poson full-moon day, 2 June 1980, receiving the name “Mahawewa Mahinda” amid the blessings of the Maha Sangha and the acclamation of the temple's devotees.

In the 1980s he entered the Sri Kavantissa Maha Pirivena at the Tissamaharama Raja Maha Viharaya — revered as the crown jewel of the Ruhuna region — where he went beyond the bounds of the pirivena syllabus and studied to G.C.E. Advanced Level, winning the regard of teachers and fellow students alike.

Having passed the Advanced Level with distinction, in 1990 he joined the Sariputta National College of Education at Nittambuwa to begin his training as a teacher. There he distinguished himself in Buddhist studies, Pali and Sanskrit, and equally in Sinhala literature and creative writing. He served as secretary of the college's main student union, and became known for the sweetness with which he delivered kavi bana, the chanted verse sermon.

In 1991 he entered the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and earned a Special Degree in Buddhist Civilization. Driven by an unending appetite for learning, he went on to take a Master of Arts from the University of Kelaniya (1996), a Postgraduate Diploma from the University of Colombo (1997), and a Master of Education from the Open University of Sri Lanka (2008).

Determined to give the country a generation of children rich in both virtue and understanding, he taught as an assistant teacher at Rapiyel Tennakoon Vidyalaya in Nugegoda, Mahamathya Vidyalaya in Athurugiriya, and Rahula Vidyalaya in Angoda. In 1997 he returned as a visiting lecturer to the Sariputta National College of Education, where he had himself trained — a turning point in his life as a teacher.

On 10 December 2008 he joined the Sri Lanka Educational Administrative Service as a lecturer at the Maharagama Teachers' College — to the good fortune of thousands of teachers. From 2015 to 2026 he led the management of the Lunugamvehera Teacher Professional Development Centre, where he was not merely a lecturer and resource person but a warm and encouraging mentor to the teaching profession. Today he serves as a Senior Lecturer at the Nilwala National College of Education in Matara, teaching the next generation of trainee teachers.

With a boundless love of literature and authorship, he has written — in partnership with the Master Guide publishing house — a large number of Buddhism textbooks for grades 6 to 11, together with many question-and-answer compendiums for Ordinary Level students.

To arm the lay community with an understanding of Buddhist philosophy, he has published nine volumes drawn from selected suttas of the Sutta Pitaka, along with the works “Dugati and Sugati”, “Kayanupassana” and “The Blessings of Kathina”.

His book “Life and Paintings” will shortly reach readers. The Book Gallery on this website is built from that very work.

Beyond preaching to the Buddhist community of Sri Lanka, he has had the good fortune to serve as a missionary of the Dhamma abroad, travelling to Germany, Austria, Israel, Singapore and Malaysia among others.

He strengthens the lay community through sermons and Dhamma discussions in the media, and for many years has run meditation programmes for foreign visitors within the temple itself.

Rich in every quality a learned monk should possess — courtesy, clarity, mastery, wide learning and the bearing of the Dhamma — may our Venerable teacher be blessed with health, freedom from affliction and long life, that he may carry his national, religious and social work forward with undiminished vigour.