Panadura

The Panadura Debate, held in 1862, was the climax of the first phase of the Buddhist revivalist movement which began with the establishment of the Society for the Propagation of Buddhism at Kotahena and the establishment of the Lankopakara Press in Galle.

The two key persons in the Panadura Debate were Migettuwatte Gunananda Thera and Father David de Silva. Gunananda Thera was acclaimed as a debater of a very high order after this debate and his personality deeply affected the resurgence of Buddhism which was to follow. He was described as "the boldest, most brilliant and most powerful champion of Sinhalese Buddhism" and the leader of the Buddhist revival.

Another sect, the Ramanna Nikaya had been established in 1865 and the Vidyodaya Pirivena, the first leading centre of oriental learning, was founded in 1872.

It was the success of the Panadura Debate that prompted Colonel Henry Steel Olcott to come to Ceylon. He was impressed with what he read in the newspapers in the United States on the Debate and immediately sent a mass of pamphlets and other literature which were very critical of Christianity. Gunananda Thera had these translated into Sinhalese and distributed them throughout the island.