Devapriya Valisinha
Devapriya Valisinha (10 February 1904 – 1968) was a Sri Lankan Buddhist revivalist who served as president of the Maha Bodhi Society for thirty-five years, from the death of his mentor (and the Society's founder) Anagarika Dharmapala in 1933 until his own death in 1968.[1]
Early life and education
Devapriya Valisinha was born to a Sinhalese family in Apalatotuwa village, Sabaragamuwa province, as the sixth child of seven. He and his siblings were orphaned at an early age, and they were adopted by their grandfather, the village headman who descended from the aristocracy of Kandy. At the age of eight, Valisinha attended a talk by Dharmapala at the Udugama Temple along with other students from his school. Mysteriously, Dharmapala took an interest in the boy, which was interpreted as a karmic connection between the two. Dharmapala asked the grandfather if he could take young Devapriya to Colombo, where he would pay for his education at the Maha Bodhi College, a school that Dharmapala had founded. The family agreed, and Valisinha moved to Colombo, where he learned English and was cared for by Dharmapala's wealthy mother. In 1917, Dharmapala's mother brought Valisinha to Calcutta, where Dharmapala lived and operated the Maha Bodhi Society, and Valisinha was enrolled in the school of Rabindranath Tagore in Shantiniketan (later Visva-Bharati). Despite only studying there one year, Valisinha learned Bengali and was elected editor of Asram magazine and secretary of the literary association. It is said that during his time in Shantiniketan, Valisinha was exposed to Tagore's "spirit of universalism." [2]
References
- ↑ "Devapriya Valisinha: A pioneer of the Buddhist revival in India and Sri Lanka". The Sunday Indian. New Delhi. 8 February 2011.
- ↑ Gee Tsing Po, Devapriya Valisinha (A Biographical Sketch), Calcutta: self-published, 1962, pp. 2-6.
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