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Studying the Wāhāla Nāgā ritual, Practised in the Siam Upasampadā in Sri Lanka

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dc.contributor.author Gunasinghe, E.W.A.H.C.
dc.date.accessioned 2016-10-25T09:52:06Z
dc.date.available 2016-10-25T09:52:06Z
dc.date.issued 2016
dc.identifier.citation Gunasinghe, E.W.A.H.C. 2016. Studying the Wāhāla Nāgā ritual, Practised in the Siam Upasampadā in Sri Lanka. 3rd International Conference on Social Sciences (3rd ICSS), 30th September - 01st October 2016, Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. p 146. en_US
dc.identifier.uri http://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/14767
dc.description.abstract During the Kandyan Kingdom, the Upasampadā and the Buddha Sasana in Sri Lanka was undergoing a crisis situation. Ven. Welivita Saranankara Thero identified this issue and invited the monks from Siam (Thailand) in 1753 to restore the Upasampadā in Sri Lanka. Upali Thero who arrived from Siam initiated the Upasampadā process. The influence of the Thai Buddhism could be observed in monks who have been ordained under the Siayamolpali Maha Nikaya. A great example for this would be the Wāhāla Nāgā ritual which is practised in the Upasampadā ceremony. The difference of those who were ordained by the Wāhāla Nāgā ritual is that it was done under the patronage of the king. Therefore in the Upasampadā ceremony only the Wāhāla Nāgā novices permitted to wear a crown. This study focuses on the Wāhāla Nāgā ritual practised in the Upasampadā under the Siayame maha nikaya. In order to understand the history of the ritual, available literature and case studies were used as sources of information. The word ‘Wāhāla’ indicated that the ritual is associated with the king. King Keerthi Sri Rajasimha has initiated this ritual and Wāhāla Nāgās who have been ordained were given Ata pirikara by the king himself. Wāhāla Nāgā ritual starts on the Vesak full moon poya day and goes until the Poson full moon poya day. A group of 10 novices was be ordained from both Malwatta and Asgiri Chapters as Wāhāla Nāgās, while the High priests of the both chapters sponsor those who were ordained. This ritual is practised even today but instead of the king who donated Ata pirikara to the Wāhāla Nāgās, now they are given to the Wāhāla Nāgās by the Diyawadana Nilame. Interestingly, this ritual still has the impact of the Siam tradition since the crown that the Wāhāla Nāgās wear before the Upasampadā was donated by Thailand. en_US
dc.language.iso en en_US
dc.publisher Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka en_US
dc.subject Siam Upasampadā (Higher Ordination) en_US
dc.subject Wāhāla Nāgās en_US
dc.subject Kandyan Kingdom en_US
dc.subject Buddhist Monks en_US
dc.title Studying the Wāhāla Nāgā ritual, Practised in the Siam Upasampadā in Sri Lanka en_US
dc.type Article en_US


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