Dr. Chula Rajapakse MNZM

Several hundred Buddhist devotees of Wellington New Zealand took part in an epic event on 20th of November  , the inauguration of the Bo Maluwa in the premises of the DGMC at Wainuomata, a suburb of Lower Hutt about twenty kilometres north of Wellington.

This was a structure built to protect DGMC’s fledgling Bo Sapling ,from the cold  and wind of Wellington. The four sides of this Maluwa  had the seven Buddha statues each ,representing the twenty eight Buddha’s of this kalpa. These statues were placed in purpose built sheltered compartments, as the four side of the Maluwa. 

Both of the Buddha statues and the Bo Sapling  had been gifted to the DGMC abbot , Bhante Welimada Jinalankara some years earlier by his supporters in Sri lanka .  The  design & construction of the maluwa at a cost of over fifty thousand NZ dollars was carried out for a large part by the DGMC supporters from Wellington with the design and engineering know how also coming from the same group. While the funds for these were donated mainly by Wellington based supporters, donations also came from devotees from the rest of NZ, Australia  and even Europe, North America and the Middle East . Bhante Jinalankara has regular Dhamma talks and discussion with the devotees from all of these areas  and has done so for the many decades he has been in New Zealand, via sky and internet.

Abbot Jinalankara , in his discourse traced the history of the DGMC from it’s inauguration in 2009 in a rented accommodation as a  temporary abode  through to moving to it’s current acquired premises in Wainuiomata in 2013 through to the inauguration of the Bo Maluwa. He recounted the regular Dhamma activities  provided like sermons, meditation and at a sil programs and Dhamma sermons via the internet and zoom. Bhante expressed appreciation and offered merit to all those who had contributed to making these events & activities possible. 

This was followed by an Atavisi Buddha Pooja and chanting of pirith.

The following morning the annual Katina program  was held at the DGMC premises. This was attended by sixteen monks drawn mainly from Wellington but also from Auckland , Hamilton and Christchurch. It was equally well attended by DGMC’s lay supporters. The DGMC website details the activities offered by Bhante Jinalankara and the two other resident monks.Those interested in benefiting from these programs and wanting to support them, are directed to this website.

In addition to the two kuti’s  presently available onsite, there are plans to build more kuti’s and dormitory facilities for the convenience  of visiting monks and lay followers. 

Dr. Chula Rajapakse MNZM

Convenor,

DGMC