about us

With a genuine intention of hoping ‘to create a group of people who would brighten the Order of the Gautama Buddha’ the meritorious premises named ‘the Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery’ was originated for the wellbeing of both human and deity worlds since the foundation stone was laid by the hands of Most Ven. Kiribathgoda Gnanananda Thero on August 14th, 1999.  Mahamevnawa became one of the famous Buddhist monasteries in Sri Lanka  as well as in other countries around the world, only within twelve years of  short time period since the monastery was started.

The ‘dissemination of the Dhamma’ started by the founder of the Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monasteries, Ven. Kiribathgoda Gnanananda Thero, with his thirty years of experience as a Buddhist monk, was widespread throughout the country in a very short period of time. As a result of describing the Buddha’s Dhamma in a comprehensible language pattern, devotees of all ages started to join Venerable Thero’s meditation programs. Because of his talent in presenting the meditations in a way so that one’s mind will get easily surrendered, these programs became accommodating for many people who were looking for meditation classes. Activated by His innovating style of presenting the Dhamma to elevate the faith towards the Buddha, humans’ hearts started to open to perceive the taste of the contents in the discourses that have been preached by the Gautama Buddha. Especially, the effort to bring the Tripitaka Dhamma to the devotees in its original form was the distinguishing quality of Mahamevnawa. Consequently, a collection of young people who listen to the Dhamma and practice meditation was created around the world. More people who are fond of the Dhamma and observing virtue were also formed. Together with these two groups, another group of elderly people was also formed to practice the Dhamma with an aim of realizing the Four Noble Truths revealed to the world by the Supreme Buddha.

Presently, there are more than 800 young disciple Bhikkhus, more than 100 young disciple Nuns, hundreds of thousands of lay disciples, and more than 50 local and foreign branches of the monastery were created in twelve years of the short time period as a result of this effort.

As mentioned before, our key aim is to provide awareness as to the original form of the teachings of the Supreme Buddha to the broader community. The Monastery offers children, youth and the elderly community effective spiritual support as well as systematic guidance for training and practising the principles of the Dhamma (the teachings of the Supreme Buddha) while emphasising its multifaceted benefits.

In order to achieve this goal, Mahamevnawa Monastery in Adelaide has implemented a variety of short-term and long-term strategies to promote both regular and special programs. With the original Buddhist teachings as its foundation, it has prioritised developing the fundamental behavioural traits necessary to bring about wholesome mental states needed to reach the end goal of Nibbana. Such traits include but are not limited to loving-kindness, compassion, altruistic joy and equanimity.

Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery in Adelaide encourages the community to observe and protect the Precepts, the fundamental virtues that lead to the development of noble qualities, social cohesion and the ultimate happiness that comes with the ending of all suffering. The methodical approach adopted in the monastery programs helps participants abandon harmful speech and actions in order to live peacefully and in harmony with others in this diverse, ever-changing society. The Monastery encourages and guides its devotees in understanding the importance of practising the qualities of patience, compassion, generosity, gratitude and respect towards parents, teachers and elders. These qualities lay a solid foundation for the wholesome aptitudes required to live a peaceful and happy life filled with mutual respect.