Attracting the Heart: Social Relations and the Aesthetics of Emotion in Sri Lankan Monastic Culture

Dramatis Personae

Dramatis Personae Ajit: Boy from Ampāra whose interest in becoming a novice at Polgoda Vihara was sparked by a visit from his old neighbor, Venerable Santasiri. Ven. Ananda: Narada’s senior student who comes from Ampāra in southeast Sri Lanka. While running his own temple outside of Kandy, Ananda has been overseeing the administration of the Ambana temple. Ven. Anuruddha: Venerable Narada’s student who becomes the head monk of the Kumbukväva temple. Ven. Candaratana: A boy from Mahavela who became a novice through Venerable Sumedha’s youth group. Ven. Devamitta: Venerable Narada’s teacher. Until his death, he was the head monk of Ganegoda Vihara. Venerable Kassapa succeeded him as head monk. Ven. Dhammadassi: Novice from Huruluväva who was brought to Polgoda Vihara through Gunasena. Dhammadassi has continued to maintain very close ties with Gunasena after becoming a novice under Venerable Narada. Ven. Dhammika: Jayasundara’s grandson who lived with his grandfather in a house that sat across the street from Venerable Ananda’s parents’ home. He is the first Ampāra villager to become a novice at Polgoda Vihara. Mr. Gunasena: Owns a house that shares a property line with the Madavala temple that Sumedha administered for some time. Mr. Gunasena has been a very strong advocate of Polgoda Vihara and brought a number of new recruits from the Huruluväva region to Venerable Narada’s temple over the years. Mr. Jayasekara: Head of donor association in Kumbukväva. Mr. Jayasundara: Venerable Dhammika’s grandfather who, after his grandson’s became a novice, brought a number of other families and children from Ampāra to Polgoda Vihara. xviii • Dramatis Personae Ven. Kassapa: Narada’s senior student who replaced Venerable Devamitta as the head monk of the Ganegoda temple. Ven. Narada: The head monk of Polgoda Vihara who established a large social service enterprise. Besides ordaining and educating numerous students, Narada is concerned with fulfilling the religious needs of Buddhists through establishing a number of branch temples. Mr. Perera: A principal lay donor of Polgoda Vihara who helped re-establish the Ambana temple outside of Mātalē. Ven. Piyadassi: Mr. and Mrs. Gunasena’s first son who became a monk. He disrobed and left Polgoda Vihara after spending six years there as a novice. Ven. Piyananda: The second son of Mr. and Mrs. Gunasena who became a monk at Polgoda Vihara. Ven. Piyaratana: Deputy head monk of Polgoda Vihara. Ven. Ratnasiri: A monk who succeeded Venerable Suvata at the Ambana temple. After unsuccessfully running the temple, Ratnasiri disrobed and returned home. Ven. Sarananda: A nineteenth- to twentieth-century monastic who sought to improve the lives of poor, low-caste families by establishing a number of schools, temples, and monastic schools throughout Sri Lanka. He was also responsible for ordaining a number of low-caste children. Sarat: Boy from Huruluväva who was recruited through Venerable Sujata. Ven. Silananda: Boy from Huruluväva who became a novice through the dharma school that Sumedha established at the Madavala temple. Ven. Sobhita: A boy from Mahavela who became a novice through Venerable Sumedha’s youth group. Mr. Somaratna: Sarat’s father. Ven. Sudhammananda: Venerable Narada’s preceptor who later administered two forest temples outside of Matara. Ven. Sujata: Novice from Huruluväva who was brought to Polgoda Vihara through Gunasena. Through him, a number of other boys from Huruluväva (like Sarat) became ordained at Narada’s temple Dramatis Personae • xix Venerable Sumana: Novice who succeeded Venerable Ratnasiri as the head monk of the Ambana temple. Ven. Sumedha: Narada’s senior student who has been, over the years, a key recruiter for Narada. After running a temple in Madavala and another in Mahavela, Sumedha has become the chief monk of a temple in outside of Kandy. Venerable Suvata: A novice who ordained late in life under Venerable Narada. He was given the Ambana temple to run until the temple’s patrons requested that he leave. He later disrobed. Mr. Tilakaratana: Principal donor and head of the village welfare society at Ambana. ...