Home – The Journey Begins

FROM MUD HUT TO TEMPLE….

“What you think you become, what you feel, you attract. what you imagine, you create.” — Gautama Buddha

In 2015, Project Kantale Maha Viharaya was born from a little mud hut in the depths of the Sri Lankan countryside, all with the determination of a young Buddhist monk – Ven. Somananda. His vision was this: to bring peace and harmony among the local communities, revive the ancient kings’ concept of the Tank, Dagaba, village and Temple (Wewai, Dagebai, Gamai, Pansalai) and provide support to  a remote part of war ravaged eastern Sri Lanka.

Click here to listen to the vision of Ven. Somananda Thero and for a progress update (filmed in Dec. 2018).

The temple is situated in the 9th Mile post off Kantale – Seruwila road. Not only did Ven. Somananda decide to build a hut and reside there, with the little that he had he also decided to help the seventeen poor families in the surrounding area. The villagers are so poor that they were unable to offer Dhana (offerings of food) to the monk, however they understood the importance of this noble task and offered their free labor to help build the temple. As a result we were able to complete many construction tasks with minimal costs. The Ven. Thero continued his mission and funded the project from the little salary he earns as a teacher of the Pirivena (monastery). Soon after, a handful of individuals and families from Sri Lanka, England and USA began providing support to the project to help Somananda Thero to achieve the following:

1) Build and complete Bodhiya and Bodhi maluwa – (COMPLETED).

2) Build a permanent building that can be used as a temple Bana(Dharma) shalawa and to provide shelter to the villagers during the heavy rainy season (as the villagers lose their homes routinely due to floods) – (NEAR COMPLETION).

3) Establish a Dhaham pasala(Dhamma school) using part of the Bana shalawa already being built under the ongoing construction – (ONGOING). Click here for more.

4) Establish a Library for students with essential educational references and books. We are in the process of establishing a small library which provides valuable reading for children in Mahaweli Pura village.
This is to provide support to improve children reading abilities and education in the area. We welcome your support by providing books(story and educational) or necessary funds for the establishment of this  project. Please contact Mrs. Anoma Abeyrathna on +44 7940 247979 for further information – (ONGOING). Click here for more.

6) Support school children education by providing a monthly fee to aid their education – (ONGOING).

7) Increase the Dhaham pasala student count from 7 to 140+ and make further improvements  – (ONGOING).Click here for more.

8) Plan and build a Chaitya (Dagoba) – (ONGOING). Click here for more.

9) Plan and build a Awasa gey and some enclosures to practice meditation – (NOT YET STARTED).

10) Plan and build a Dhana Shala(Alms hall)  – Thanks to Friends of Sri Lanka UK charity,  we have managed to secure some funds to complete part of the construction work for this building (ONGOING). Click here for more.

11) To help in any way to uplift the living standards of the villagers, including donating cows (rescued from slaughterhouses) – (ONGOING).

12) Increase the number of settled families in the area from 17 to 106 due to the support provided by the temple, plans are underway to increase their living stanards – (ONGOING).

13) Water supply, irrigation and plantation project – Support with equipment and manpower for ongoing excavation work for construction of a water well that will be used to supply water to the surrounding area to establish a plantation – (ONGOING). Click here for more.

14) Model farm – with our ongoing effort to establish a water supply our next step is to setup a model farm. Following work is planned under the model farm:

1. Paddy field – already established in 2 acre land (STARTED – limited to rainy season).
2. Establish a beehive farm which provide organic bees honey, in addition  to this we plan to form an experimental ‘honey fence’ around the farm to keep the wild elephants away as elephants dislike bees and this has worked well for the farmers in other countries – (EXPERIMENTAL AND ABOUT TO START)
3. Other plantations and fruits (STARTED).

This support page is established and maintained by a group of people who have helped to achieve the above mentioned noble tasks by providing funds and spending time on organizing various activities such as obtaining estimates for the ongoing construction, planning the Chaithya construction etc.

With the support thus far, we have been able to work towards some of our goals. However, we still have a long way to go and any support we are able to get towards Project Kantale Maha Viahraya would be greatly appreciated. You may join hands with us to support the ongoing activities listed above.

If you are interested in making a donation to any one of the above mentioned noble tasks, please donate to the Bank of Ceylon accounts listed under donate page.

Alternatively, you may directly contact or visit the temple/Ven. Somananda and make your own contributions by using the provided contact information found on contact us page.