Buddhist monastery opens in Perambur

The first Buddhist vihara (monastery) to come up in two hundred years — also the first of its kind in the city — was inaugurated in Perambur on Monday.

Amid much fanfare, Buddhist monks from across the globe including Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, and Burma, along with the South India Buddhist Association(SIBA) opened the monastery and asked its followers to propagate the ideals of Buddha. 

Located along Bunder Garden main street, the monastery has a 6-ft Buddha statue installed in it along with a smaller statue of Dr BR Ambedkar placed in front of it. Ratnajyoti Mahathero, who was attached to Maha Bodhi Society Sri Lanka, is in charge of the place. Speaking to DT Next , Mahathero said that he would begin his duties after a brief visit to Sri Lanka. 

“I will be back in two months and teach the children here Tamil and Hindi, besides preaching Buddhism. This would be the ideal place to propagate Buddhism in this city,” he said. 

Explaining further, Ratnajyoti Mahathero said that Anagarika Dharmapala, founder of Maha Bodhi Society, was here, and his work to spread Buddhism would be carried forward. 

Speaking about the initiative, Bhikku (monk) Bhathant Nagarajan said that this monastery was the first Buddhist monastery to come up in two centuries, and since the times of prominent Tamil Activist and anti-caste activist Pandit Iyothee Thass who converted to Buddhism in 1890s. Bhikku Chandima noted that this monastery would help in realising Ambedkar’s dreams. 

“It has been seven decades since Ambedkar embraced the religion but Buddhism has not spread across the country. The monastery will play a vital role in propagating Buddhism across the city and the state”, he said. 

Among those present at the inauguration were BSP state president K Armstrong who is also the office bearer of the SIBA and director Pa Ranjith who posed for pictures with the monks and the guests. Meanwhile, a Catholic priest from a parish along East Coast Road, John Suresh, who was present at the event underscored the need of Buddhist principles as politics over religion was prevalent in many places across the country. 

“We need spiritual politics but, the spirituality in it should only be Buddhism,” he said. This appeared to be in reference to what actor Rajinikanth had said while declaring his entry into politics. 

“There is a need for a political change. The system needs change. We need a politics that is truthful, straightforward and clean. We need a kind of politics that is devoid of influence of caste and religion. We need ‘spiritual politics’. That is my goal and wish,” Rajinikanth had said on December 31. Suresh compared Jesus Christ, Buddha and Thiruvalluvar as influential individuals. 

“While Thiruvalluvar wrote couplets, the other two preached through parables,” he said. The Perambur monastery also has a resource centre named after S Anitha who committed suicide after failing to crack NEET. Her father T Shanmugham, and brother opened the centre together.