Asoka Weeraratna Explained

Asoka Weeraratna
අසෝක වීරරතන
Birth Date:12 December 1918
Birth Place:Galle, Sri Lanka
Death Place:Mitirigala, Sri Lanka
Nationality:Sri Lankan (Sinhala)
Other Names:Alfred Weeraratna
Mitirigala Dhammanisanthi Thera
Known For:Propagation of Buddhism
Education:Mahinda College, Galle[1]

Asoka Weeraratna (December 12, 1918 – July 2, 1999) was a Sri Lankan (Sinhala) Buddhist missionary, who founded the German Dharmaduta Society in 1952.[2] He is also the founder of the Berlin Buddhist Vihara, one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Europe and Mitirigala Nissarana Vanaya, a famous meditation monastery in the Western Province, Sri Lanka.[2] Asoka Weeraratna later entered the Order of Buddhist monks in 1972 as Ven. Mitirigala Dhammanisanthi Thera and spent his later life as a forest monk at the Mitirigala Nissarana Vanaya for a period of 27 years.[3]

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.island.lk/2002/03/10/news09.html German Dharmaduta Society gifts pictures to Heritage Museum of Mahinda College
  2. Web site: Asoka Weeraratne pioneer in developing post-war Sri Lanka-German ties . Asian tribune . 17 October 2014 . Weeraratna, Senaka.
  3. Web site: Asoka Weeraratna - Germany's 'Mahinda Thera' . Daily News . 16 November 2012 . 17 October 2014.