Bhante Dharmawara

Who was Bhante Dharmawara?

Bhante Dharmawara was a Cambodian-born Theravada monk and teacher who died at the age of 110.

He was well educated and became a lawyer, judge and provincial governor before he began studying Buddhism and became a monk in his 30s. Bhante practised in the Forest Tradition in Thailand before travelling through Burma and India, where he spent much of his life. He studied natural healing and became well known for his healing abilities, in recognition of which he was given the land on which to found The Asoka Mission in New Delhi by Jawarharalal Nehru, first Prime Minister of Independent India.

He was fluent in many languages and travelled to teach meditation and healing to groups in many countries. He taught meditation, particularly on colour, every year to the students at Mr Bennett's Academy for Continuous Education in Sherborne, Gloucestershire.

Later, Bhante moved permanently to the United States and worked to help settle the thousands of refugees who fled there from the war in Cambodia. He founded the first Cambodian Buddhist temple in America in Washington, D.C. and later Wat Dharawararama in Stockton, California.

His ashes have been interred in a memorial at Asoka Mission in Delhi where a celebration of his life is held every year on his birthday, February 12.