Weligama Sri Sumangala Thera

Ven Weligama Sri Sumangala Thera (Sinhala: වැලිගම ශ්‍රී සුමංගල තෙරණුවෝ) (1825-1905) was a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk and an oriental scholar. Life events He was born in 1825 to a respectful family at Weligama in Matara District (Carus, 1905; Paranavitana, 1983). At twelve years of age, he entered the Buddhist order and completed his education at Ven. Bentara Attadassi Thera, one of the most famous Sanskrit scholars at the time (Carus, 1905; Paranavitana, 1983). Sumangala Thera, in a short period, became a recognized Sanskrit scholar. He wrote several commentaries on Sanskrit grammar and his work Mugdhabodha Vyakhana comprising 700 pages was printed by the Government of Ceylon in 1897 (Paranavitana, 1983). He has been consulted as an authority in Sinhala, Pali, and Sanskrit by scholars from the West as well as from the East (Carus, 1905). He also pioneered in establishment of the Saugathodaya Vidyalaya at Rankoth Viharaya (Paranavitana, 1983). Sir Edwin Arnold (1832-1904) the author of the …