Anagarika Dharmapala

Anagarika Dharmapala (b. 1864, d. 1933) was a Sri Lankan Buddhist scholar and reformer known for his pioneering efforts to revive Buddhism in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and India, and spread its teachings in Asia, North America, and Europe. Born Don David Hewavitarne into a wealthy Sinhalese family in Matara, he took Buddhist vows young and changed his name, though he became ordained as a monk only shortly before his death. For decades he worked closely with Henry Steel Olcott and Helena Blavatsky of the Theosophical Society in establishing Buddhist institutions across Ceylon. In 1891, Dharmapala founded the Maha Bodhi Society to revive Buddhism in India and Ceylon, working in particular to restore the site of Bodh Gaya in Bihar as a global Buddhist centre. He gained international recognition representing Theravada Buddhism at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893. He also helped activate a nationalist, anti-imperialist consciousness in colonial Ceylon, advocating for Buddhism in resistance against Western and Christian dominance.