THE BLUE LOTUS BUDDHIST FELLOWSHIP&
THE BLUE LOTUS SANGHA SABHAVA
at the
PURANA TOTAGAMUWA RATHPATH RAJA MAHA VIHARAYA,
TELWATTA.

There are many ancient Buddhist temples in Sri Lanka which are famous for their prolonged existence with royal patronage and important historical events associated with them. The ancient royal patronage denotes with the title Raja Maha (Great Royal or better even Royal – Raja, Great - Maha) which the Totagamu Viharaya also inherited from the days of yore. This temple is situated within the Telwatta Sanctuary; 400 meters interior on the land side of the Colombo – Galle main road between the coastal towns of Ambalangoda and Hikkaduwa in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka.

The Totagamu Raja Maha Viharaya used to be, not only a Buddhist Temple but, also a great seat of learning. In the 15th century even equivalent to a University, and can be considered as one of the most significant temples in the country. In that time it was headed by a pre-eminent Buddhist Prelate of high intellect and incomparable knowledge of six oriental languages carrying the title Shadbhasha Paramesvara, the Most Venerable Totagamuve Sri Rahula Sangharaja (1408 – 1491). This educational institution attached to the temple was called Vijayaba Pirivena, and was recognized by many scholars. Originally it was build in the Anuradhapura period and during the Polonnaruwa period the famous Vijayaba Pirivena, as a centre of learning in the South was started. During the Kotte period this educational institution became world famous. According to the Sri Lankan chronicle the Mahavamsa (Mv.11.4) this temple was built in the 3rd Century BC during the reign of King Devanampiya Tissa (307–267 BC.) whose capital was in Anuradhapura.

The Chola invaders from South India occupied our first capital Anuradhapura for a considerable number of years until King Vijayabahu I (1010 - 1051) defeated them, and drove them back to India. This event caused the shifting of the capital city more towards the western low lands of the island. By this time the Totagamuva Temple was in a dilapidated condition and the King Maha Vijayabahu moved to commence its renovation and reconstruction activities. The educational institution the Pirivena was established under his patronage and named after him – Vijayaba Pirivena.

The historical annals reveal further renovation has been done by King Parakramabahu IV (1302 – 1326) who vested in the temple a vast extend of paddy lands from neighboring Baddegama with gardens containing 50.000 coconut trees by a proclamation for the maintenance of the temple and Pirivena (MV.88.88.93).

This was followed by the Golden Age of the Vijayaba Pirivena during which it was elevated to a high level academic institution of multilateral disciplines having the Ven. Totagamuve Sri Rahula as its head. The that time capital was Kotte and King Parakramabahu VI ruled from 1415 - - the country. And during this time the Vijayaba Pirivena was known as the famous University of the East. Its fame wend beyond seas and students of different other country’s received their education in this Pirivena.

In 1505 with the arrival of the Portuguese, commenced the dark period in Sri Lanka. In the year 1580 ten shiploads of Portuguese headed by Thome de Souza landed here at a place near Kosgoda on the Southern Coast.

They ran riot destroying all Buddhist Places of worship by setting them ablaze and annihilated almost all the Buddhist Monks, Nuns, Laymen, women and children whom they come across. Totagamuva Viharaya, the Vijayaba Pirivena and the inmates, both Monks and laymen where no exception.

However, in 1765 the Ven. Vehalle Dhammadinna Thera had identified this Temple and he instructed his pupil The Ven. Pallattara Puññasara to stay here and give life to it once again. In this endeavor it is regrettable to note that the State co-operation had not been extended to the Ven. Dhammadina Thera. This historical place of Buddhist worship should necessarily get the attention of the world. It is the bounden duty of the present generation to refurbish this ancient educational and religious centre of historical importance and bring it back to its pristine glory for the sake of prosperity.

Because of his great concern and whish to restore this place to its old glory The Most Venerable Rajakiya Panditta Gammeddegoda Puññasara Maha Thera Chief Incumbent of the Temple has been working very hard to improve the place.
From the left: Ven.G. Puññasara Maha Thera, the Most Ven. Udagama Sri Buddharakkhita Maha Nayaka Thera o/t Asgiriya Maha Viharaya in Kandy and the Ven. H. S. Devamitta Maha Thera.

In the present time there has been, due to his guidance, constructed a new library: The Sri Rahula Cultural Library, which is regularly visited by students and scholars alike to do researches and to consult the Ven. Puññasara Thera (Panditta Hamuduruwa) who has a vast knowledge about (among others) the history of the place. Also a great number of school classes and groups of students and pilgrims frequently visit the place to hear lectures about the history and about the literature of The Most Venerable Totagamuva Sri Rahula Sangharaja. Because there is no Lecture Hall those lectures now have to be held in the open. We hope to be able to chance this in the near future.
In February 2007 the Ven. Gammeddegoda Puññasara Thera invited his oldest pupil the Dutch monk the Ven. Holland S. Devamitta Thera together with the Rev. Baddegama Ariyadhamma Thero (pupil of the Ven. Devamitta) to come and stay with him. Mainly due to his old age (83), the Ven. Puññasara Thera decided in January 2008 to hand over the daily affairs of the place to be managed by the Ven. Devamitta. Naturally the Ven. Puññasara Thera is consulted on a daily base. The Ven. Puññasara Thera also agreed to hand over a peace of land (about 2 acres), which is adjoining the Temple where Bhante Devamitta hopes to construct a new Monastery Building and a Meditation and Dhamma Study Centre. The monastic building is an urgent need.
Right: Ven Puññasara’s Avasa left; backside library front; dining hall which is near to collapse after tsunami washed away part o/t/ foundation.

The Ven. Puññasara Thera is living in his Avasa (monks house), but there is in fact no place where other monks can reside. Because of this Bhante Devamitta and the Rev. Ariyadhamma are (hopefully only temporarily) residing in the guest rooms of the library, another pupil of Bhante Devamitta (shared with the Ven. B. Samittha Thera) is residing in Baddegama.
Rev. Devarakkhita. Rev. Ariyadhamma and Devarakkhita

Sri Rahula Cultural Library.

Further more there are a few requests of boys to be ordained as pupils of Bhante Devamitta. We will start to ordain some of them in the near future but the lodging situation will be a big problem.

There is also a great need for a Meditation c.q. Lecture Hall. The library which we use on the moment for the meditation activities is too small for this purpose and lectures are given mostly in the open air. Also it’s very difficult for the monks to do their religious work: teaching is now limited to teaching on a personal base or the teaching of a few people at the time. Considering the rest of their work; organizing educational, medical, social and cultural activities it’s also difficult because of the lack of accommodation. With the construction of a Monastery building and a Meditation / Lecture Hall we hope this will change in the near future. The Meditation Centre will also have a few “kuti’s” (Cabana’s) where visiting practitioners can be lodged. We hope to start a fund raising campaign as soon as the estimates are ready, we will keep you informed.