Death anniversary:

Professor Dr Kotagama Vacchissara Nayake Thera

The 42nd death anniversary of Professor Dr Kotagama Vacchissara Nayake Thera will be held at Temple Trees under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapaksa on November 28.

Dr Vacchissara commemoration stamp and a first day cover will be issued by the Postal Authorities.

The village Kotagama is synonymous and twined with the name Dr Kotagama Vacchissara, the Great Teacher, who taught at Dharmaraja and Ananda Colleges in Kandy and Colombo.

Later, Dr Vacchissara Nayake Thera served as the Dean of the Faculty of Vidyodaya University, the present university of Sri Jayawardenapura. Dr Kotagama Vacchissara was a gold-mine of knowledge. His services to Buddhism and education was enormous.

Dr Vacchissara was also a great motivator, meticulous, methodical, organised and flawless in whatever he did. The great performances of this beloved teacher, may be matched, but they will never be surpassed or eclipsed. The demise of this learned Dr Kotagama Vacchissara Thera was undoubtedly an irreparable loss to Buddhism. He was an eloquent preacher and an internationally reputed monk. He was also a voracious reader and treated his students with kindness.

Dr Vacchissara Thera played a prominent role in the social revolution of 1956.

He was a fearless monk. He always played a fearless role to achieve Social Revolution in 1956. He was a great orator and a highly distinguished preacher. His deliverance was very powerful and touching. In his speeches, orations and anusasanas he adopted a simple langauge both in Sinhala and English and it had its own inimitable style.

- Premasara Epasinghe