Ven. Walpola Piyananda, an erudite bhikku who had rendered yeoman service to propagate Buddhism in the US and many Western countries, turned 80 recently.
Born as the fifth child in a family of eight, he studied at the Walpola School up to the fifth grade and entered priesthood in 1955, 68 years ago.
Ven. Piyananda became known as a talented orator during his higher education years. Similarly, he wrote his first book during this period. In 1967, Ven. Piyananda received an honorary bachelor’s degree from the University of Kelaniya.
He worked as an assistant lecturer at the Vidyodaya University in 1969 and as an external lecturer at Colombo University until 1972. After receiving a scholarship awarded by the Indian Government, he entered the Kolkata University in 1972.
He went to the USA on July 4, 1976 and obtained a doctorate from the University of Chicago. He founded the Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Centre in California in 1980 in one of the most populous and busiest regions in North America.
Having lived in America for nearly five decades, he successfully imparted Buddhist ethos to Americans. At the same time, under his initiative, many Sri Lankan Buddhist temples were built in America. Not only abroad, but also domestically, the service rendered by Ven. Piyananda Thera is immense.
In recognition of his services, he was bestoed an honorary doctorate by the Ruhuna University and the Myanmar Government conferred the title of Agga Maha Panditha. He holds the post of Chief Sangha Nayake in America and was also the first President of the World Buddhist Conference.
