Page 25 - Wesak as a Public Holiday and Its Social Psychological Significance

Wesak as a Public Holiday and Its Social Psychological Significance

Furthermore, before and after
WWII, Buddhism in Malaya and
Singapore was influenced greatly by the
Buddhist movement in Sri Lanka. Col.
Olcott competed with the Christians by
20
establishing modern schools . Earlier,
before his arrival in Sri Lanka, Buddhist
monks were already engaged in reviving
Buddhism and had established modern
2 1
Fig. 13: Anagarika Dhammapala Pirivena which produced many
22
outstanding monks . From then on, Sri
Lankan monks and lay Buddhists had
been bringing the message of the
Buddha to the West as well as South
East Asia. Some Buddhists after Olcott,
23
such as Anagarika Dhammapala (Fig.
24
13) and Dr. G.P. Malalasekera (Fig. 14)
were leaders with a global world view
and travelled worldwide to bring
Fig. 14: Dr. G.P. Malalasekera Buddhism to the world at large.

20. Olcott, through his Theosophical Soceity established 3 schools in 1880, and increased to 24 boy schools, 11
girl schools and 10 co-ed schools by 1897. In 1903, there were 174 schools with 30,000 students. The number
of schools further increased to 429 by 1940.

21. In 1839, Rev. Walane Siddhartha established the “Paramadhammachethiya Pirivena” which signified the
beginning of Buddhist revival in Sri Lanka (note that this was before the great Buddhist-Christian debates).
nd
Pirivena in fact existed since the 2 century AD but were gradually replaced by Christian missionary schools in
th
the 16 centuary. In 1873, after the Panaruda Buddhist-Christian debate, Ven. Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala
established the Vidyodaya Pirivena. In 1876, Ven. Ratmalane Sri Dharmaloka established the Vidyalankara
Pirivena.
22. For example, Vidyalankara Pirivena produced Ven. Walpola Rahula, a reknown Buddhist scholar monk who
wrote the “What the Buddha Taught”, and Ven. K. Sri Dhammananda, who wrote “What Buddhists Believe”.

23. When Olcott arrived in Sri Lanka in 1880, Dhammapala, then 16 years of age, became his intrepretator, and
followed him everywhere to preach the Dhamma. Dhammapala strongly opposed aping British names and
customs, hence he changed his name from David to Dhammapala. Anagarika is a title for one who observed the
Eight Precepts. He established the Mahabodhi Society in India, UK, and USA to preach the Dhamma. He also
championed for the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya to be returned to the Buddhists (it was previously under the
control of Hindus). The Mahadodhi Temple management was partially returned to the Buddhists in 1947, 16
years after his passing away. He was also involved in getting Dalits to mass convert to Buddhism, 50 years
earlier than Dr. Ambedkar. He had travelled to UK 4 times, to USA 6 times, and had also been to China, Japan,
Thailand, France, and Italy.

24. Dr. G. P. Malalasekera (1899-1973) was head of Pali and Buddhist study of University of Ceylon from 1942
to 1959. In 1957 he was appointed Sri Lanka ambassador to USSR. He had also been ambassador to Canada,
UN and UK. He served as President of All-Ceylon Buddhist Congress for 25 years. In 1950, he was among one
of those who founded the World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB). In 1951 he gave Dhamma talks and promote
the concept of WFB in Singapore, Malacca and Kuala Lumpur. Tun Tan Cheng Look attended his talk held at the
Meng Seng Charity Hall in Malacca. In 1952 he again visited Singapore.

Chapter 2: The Sri Lankan Connection Page24