Our lineage
Monastic training
Young monks from across India study, practise and serve here, following the curriculum of the Mahabodhi Monastic Institute.
Training the next generation of teachers
The Vihara is home to a community of monks and novices who come from many parts of India. Along with the Buddha’s teaching and meditation, they study Pāli, English, computers and mathematics.
Their training follows the Mahabodhi Monastic Institute in Bengaluru, founded by Acharya Buddharakkhita in 2001. Courses run from school level, the Pariyatti Pathama, up to the Dhammācariya, an advanced degree in the Dhamma.
Three steps of ordination
Each step is taken only when the candidate and his teachers are ready.
- 1
Anagārika
A lay trainee who keeps eight precepts and lives in the monastery.
- 2
Sāmaṇera
A novice monk, keeping ten precepts and studying full time.
- 3
Bhikkhu
Full ordination, from the age of twenty, in a formal act of the Sangha.
Joining the monastery
Young men who wish to train as novices, and parents who would like to know more, are welcome to meet the senior monks. Please call the office to arrange a time. The Vihara’s sīmā, consecrated in 2015, allows ordinations to be held here.
Supporting a novice
The cost of a novice’s food, robes, books and medicine is met entirely by dāna. You can sponsor a novice’s education for a month or a year.
