Umandawa Global Buddhist Village is a recently-built religious site controlled by a controversial monk in yellow robes, Siri Samantha Badra.
Umandawa Global Buddhist Village U mandawa Global Buddhist Village , also known as Umandawa Maha Vihara Monastery (Sinhala: උමංදාව මහා විහාර අසපුව, උමංදාව බෞද්ධ විශ්ව ගම්මානය), is a recently-built religious site situated in Madahapola village near Malsiripura town in Kurunegala District, Sri Lanka. The monastery is controlled by a controversial monk in yellow robes, Siri Samantha Badra (formerly Pitiduwe Siridhamma), who asserts himself as an Arhat, a designation reserved for one who has destroyed or abandoned four things: birth ( Jati ), the Asavas , the fetters ( Samyojana ), and the burden [( Bhara ) De Silva, 2023]. Declaring oneself as an Arahat is controversial in Sri Lanka, as well as in other Theravada Buddhist countries and therefore, many people are sceptical of Siri Samantha Badra's claims of being an Arahat (De Silva, 2023). Consequently, he has lost the respect of his fellow monastics, with both monastics and laity routinely critiquing his ideas (De Silva, 2023). Further exacerbating the situation, addition…
