The Govigama community has been the primary custodian of Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka for over 2,300 years — building temples, establishing monastic orders, and preserving the Pali Canon.
The Arrival of Buddhism
Buddhism was introduced to Sri Lanka in the 3rd century BCE when Arahat Mahinda, son of Emperor Ashoka of India, arrived at Mihintale and converted King Devanampiya Tissa. From that moment, Buddhism became inseparable from Sinhalese identity, and the Govigama — as the largest community — became its primary supporters and protectors.
The great monasteries of Anuradhapura — Maha Vihara, Abhayagiri, and Jetavana — were all sustained by the agricultural surplus produced by Govigama cultivators. The Sangha (Buddhist monastic order) depended on the lay community for food, shelter, and support, and the Govigama fulfilled this role with devotion.
The Siyam Nikaya and the Buddhist Revival
One of the most significant chapters in Govigama religious history is the establishment of the Siyam Nikaya (Siamese Fraternity) in 1753. By the 18th century, the Buddhist monastic tradition in Sri Lanka had nearly collapsed due to centuries of colonial persecution and internal decline.
Weliwita Saranankara Sangharaja Thero (1698–1778), born as Kulatunge Bandara in the village of Weliwita, Kandy, spearheaded a Buddhist revival. Key achievements:
- Established the Silvath Samagama — a pious group committed to strict monastic discipline
- Convinced King Kirti Sri Rajasinghe to send missions to Siam (Thailand) to restore the higher ordination (Upasampada)
- In 1753, Siamese monks arrived and re-established the ordination lineage, creating the Siyam Nikaya
- Was appointed the first Sangharaja (Supreme Patriarch) of the revived order
- Authored important Pali and Sinhala literary works including Munigunalankaraya and Sarartha Sangrahaya
- Established pirivenas (monastic schools) to educate monks
The Siyam Nikaya became the most influential Buddhist order in Sri Lanka and remains the largest monastic fraternity today.
The restriction of 1764
The ordination lineage restored in 1753 was open to all. In 1764, however — barely a decade later — a faction within the newly established Siyam Nikaya succeeded in restricting higher ordination (upasampada) to candidates of Govigama birth.1, ch. 3 The restriction has no basis in the teaching of the Buddha, who explicitly rejected birth as a measure of a person's worth, and it has been criticised on precisely that ground ever since.
Its practical effect was severe. Buddhists of the maritime provinces — among them the Karava, Salagama and Durava communities — were denied access to a valid ordination lineage in their own country.
The Amarapura and Ramanna response
Rather than accept exclusion, laymen of the maritime communities financed their own expeditions to Burma to obtain ordination directly. Successive voyages by Salagama, Karava and Durava candidates produced, by 1810, a quorum of ordained monks sufficient to confer higher ordination in Sri Lanka itself. This became the Amarapura Nikaya.1, ch. 4 It was the first monastic lineage in Sri Lankan history created not through the patronage of a king but through the collective action of lay Buddhists — a genuine turning point in the island's religious life. The Ramanna Nikaya, founded in 1864 by Ambagahawatte Saranankara, followed for similar reasons.
The Siyam Nikaya's restriction has never been formally lifted, and the Sri Lankan Sangha remains divided along these lines to this day.2 This site records the fact plainly. It is part of the history of the Govigama community, and it is not a creditable part of it.
Temple Building Tradition
The Govigama community has been responsible for the construction and maintenance of thousands of Buddhist temples across Sri Lanka. The tradition of Dana (giving) and Pinkama (meritorious deeds) is deeply embedded in Govigama culture. Notable temples built or patronized by Govigama families include temples throughout the Kandyan highlands, the Central Province, and the Southern Province.
Anagarika Dharmapala and the Modern Buddhist Revival
Anagarika Dharmapala (1864–1933), born Don David Hewavitarane, was one of the most important figures in the modern Buddhist revival. He founded the Maha Bodhi Society, campaigned for the restoration of Buddhist sites in India — Bodh Gaya above all — and did much to galvanise Buddhist identity across Sinhalese society.
He belonged to no single community. His father, Don Carolis Hewavitarane, was Govigama; his mother, Dona Mallika Dharmagunawardhana, was Durava.2 That mixed parentage was not incidental to his life. Under the caste-based ordination rules then governing the monastic fraternities, it stood in the way of his becoming a monk, and it is part of why he spent his career as an anagārika — a lay renunciant — rather than as a bhikkhu.1
He is claimed here not as a Govigama figure but as a Sri Lankan one, and the obstacle he faced belongs in the record beside the achievement.
Cultural Traditions
The Govigama community has preserved numerous cultural traditions:
- Kandyan Dance (Uda Rata Natum) — The classical dance tradition of the Kandyan highlands
- Perahera — The grand Buddhist procession, particularly the Esala Perahera of Kandy
- Sinhala and Tamil New Year (Aluth Avurudda) — Agricultural new year celebrations
- Vesak — The celebration of the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and passing
- Traditional Medicine (Deshiya Chikitsa) — Ayurvedic and indigenous healing traditions
- Arts and Craftsmanship — Woodcarving, brass work, weaving, and pottery