# Malwathu Maha Viharaya

Malwathu Maha Viharaya (also called Malwatta temple) is a Buddhist monastery located in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is the headquarters of the Malwatta chapter of Siyam Nikaya and one of the two Buddhist monasteries that holds the custodianship of sacred tooth relic of Buddha kept in Sri Dalada Maligawa, Kandy. The chief incumbent of the Malwathu Maha Viharaya is the Mahanayaka thero of Malwatta chapter of Siyam nikaya, a leading Buddhist monastic fraternity in Sri Lanka. The present chief incumbent of Malwathu Maha Viharaya is Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thero.

## History

This temple is believed to be built by Senasammatha Vickramabahu (1473–1511) along with a stupa and a double storey ordination hall (Uposhathagaraya) in the late 15th century or early 16th century. It was originally built as the residence of three monks but today it houses many Buddhist monks including the monks of Karaka Sangha Sabha (executive council) of Malwatta chapter of Siyam Nikaya. The building known as ‘poya ge’ is used as the assembly hall for the important meetings of the monastic fraternity. This building was built during the reign of king Kirti Sri Rajasinha of Kandy.

## The monastery

Malwathu Maha Viharaya consists of two sections, the Uposatha Viharaya which is also known as ‘Poyamalu Viharaya’ and the other Pushparama Viharaya popularly known as Malwathu Viharaya. Poyamalu Viharaya is the oldest section of the Vihara complex which is today recognized as an archaeologically protected monument.

## Chief Incumbents

Source:
The following is a list of chief incumbents of Malwathu Maha Viharaya, Kandy who are also the Mahanayaka theros of Malwatta chapter of Siyam Nikaya. Appointment of senior Buddhist monks to the Mahanayaka position in Sri Lanka began with the re-establishment of Upasampada higher ordination in 1753 on the initiatives taken by Sangharaja Weliwita Sri Saranankara Thero during the reign of king Kirti Sri Rajasinha of Kandy.
* Thibbatuwawe Sri Buddha Rakkitha Thero (1753–1773) තිබ්බටුවාවේ ශ්‍රී බුද්ධරක්ඛිත හිමි (1753 - 1773)
* Medawala Sri Rathana Jothi Thero (1773–1774) - මැදවල ශ්‍රී රතනජෝති මහා ථේර
* Daramitipola Sri Dhamma Rakkitha Thero (1774–1787) -දරමිටිපොල ශ්‍රී ධම්මරක්ඛිත හිමි (1774–1787)
* Morathota Rajaguru Sri Dammakannda Thero (1787–1811) - මොරතොට රාජගුරු ශ්‍රී ධම්මකකන්ද මහා ථේර
* Kobekaduwe Rajaguru Siriniwasa Thero (1811–1819) - කොබ්බෑකඩුවේ රාජගුරු සිරිනිවාස මහා ථේර
* Welivita Sri Saranakara Thero (1819–1822) - වැලිවිට ශ්‍රී සරණංකර මහා ථේර
* Gammulle Sri Sumana Thero (1822–1825) - ගම්මුල්ලේ ශ්‍රී සුමන මහා ථේර
* Kotikapola Sri Rathanajothi Thero (1825–1826) - කොටිකාපොල ශ්‍රී රතනජෝති මහා ථේර
* Kandegedara Sri Rewatha Thero (1826–1829) - කන්දෙගෙදර ශ්‍රී රේවත මහා ථේර
* Galgiriyawe Sri Sumangala Thero (1829–1850) - ගල්ගිරියාවේ ශ්‍රී සුමංගල මහා ථේර
* Parakumbure Sri Wipassi Thero (1850–1862) - පරකුබුරේ ශ්‍රී විපස්සි මහා ථේර
* Medagama Sri Dewamitta Thero (1862–1877) - මැදගම ශ්‍රී දේවමිත්ත මහා ථේර
* Hippola Sri Sobhitha Thero (1877–1893) - හිප්පොල ශ්‍රී ශෝබිත මහා ථේර
* Tibbotuwawe Sri Sumangala Thero (1893–1913) - තිබ්බොටුවාවේ ශ්‍රී සුමංගල මහා ථේර
* Galgiriyawe Sri Buddharakkitha Thero (1913–1919) - ගල්ගිරියාව ශ්‍රී බුද්ධරක්ඛිත මහා ථේර
* Amunugama Sri Piyadassi Thero (1919–1924) - අමුණුගම ශ්‍රී පියදස්සි මහා ථේර
* Abanwelle Sri Sumangala Thero (1924–1927) - අබන්වැල්ලේ ශ්‍රී සුමංගල මහා ථේර
* Pahamune Sri Sumangala Thero (1927–1945) - පහමුනේ ශ්‍රී සුමංගල මහා ථේර
* Rambukwelle Sri Shobitha Thero (1946–1955) - රඹුක්වැල්ලේ ශ්‍රී සෝභිත මහා ථෙර
* Welivita Sri Saranankara Thero (1955–1956) - වැලිවිට ශ්‍රී සරණංකර මහා ථේර
* Purijjala Sri Saranankara Thero (1956 -1963) පුරිජ්ජල ශ්‍රී සරණංකර මහා ථේර
* Amunugama Sri Wipassi Thero (1964–1969) - අමුණුගම ශ්‍රී විපස්සි මහා ථේර
* Madugalle Sri Dhamma Siddhi Thero (1969–1973) - මඩුගල්ලේ ශ්‍රී ධම්මසිද්ධි හිමි
* Sirimalwatte Sri Ananda Thero (1973–1989) - සිරිමල්වත්තේ ශ්‍රී ආනන්ද හිමි
* Rambukwelle Sri Vipassi Thero (1989–2004). - රබුක්වැල්ලේ ශ්‍රී විපස්සි මහා ථේර
* Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thero (2004– ) - තිබ්බටුවාවේ ශ්‍රී සිද්ධාර්ථ සුමංගල මහා ථේර