page_title: U Pannya Jota Mahathera
section_title: Early life
hierarchical_section_title: U Pannya Jota Mahathera / Biography / Early life
caption_attribution_description: English: Mr. U Saw Hla (Ven. U Pannya Jota Thera) as an Assistant Judge and Magistrate of Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh was taking his seat at Hathazari Court, Hathazari, Chittagong, Bangladesh in 1985
context_page_description: Ven. U Pannya Jota Mahathera, locally known as Guru Bhante was a Bangladeshi Theravada monk. He was born in the Royal Bohmong family at Bandarban, East Pakistan. He previously served the government of Bangladesh as a judge and magistrate for about eight years; then he became a Buddhist monk.
context_section_description: U Pannya Jota (Birth name: U Saw Hla, Bengali: উচহ্লা) was born in Bandarban, East Pakistan, on December 22, 1955. His father Hla Thowai Phru, his mother Aung Mri Ching, and his grandfather  Kyaw Zaw Than was the late King of Royal Bohmong  family.
  At the early of six or seven, he began to attend school in Bandarban and after his high school/college he was admitted to Dhaka University in the Law department.
  During his university life, he has led several organizations in promoting education among the students. He has joined many organizations and worked for the promotion of indigenous cultural heritage. He used to sing traditional songs at functions and many  popular Marma songs like “Sangrai ma”  were composed by him. He also formed a music band named The Royal Artists Group (Bengali: দি রয়েল শিল্পীগোষ্ঠী). After his graduation, he served Bangladesh Government as a Judge and Magistrate for about 8 years. As a Judge, he has worked for the justice and peace of the society. At the second time of ordination he took with him a strong determination to become Buddhist monk forever. He resigned from the job and became a Buddhist monk in 1990 at Ching Mrong Bihara. From that day he became known as U Pannya Jota Mahathera. Since then, he has been working tirelessly for Buddha sasana.
caption: Mr. U Saw Hla (Ven. U Pannya Jota Thera)  as an Assistant Judge and Magistrate of Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh was taking his seat at Hathazari Court, Chittagong, Bangladesh in 1985
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