Speakers

We are very pleased to welcome you to Porto.
Director, Walpola Rahula Institute for Buddhist Studies

Galkande Dhammananda Thero

Venerable Galkande Dhammananda Thero is a monk of Theravada Buddhist tradition and leads the Walpola Rahula Institute, which offers educational and training programs for religious leaders and lay persons with an aim to support social healing. He was a Senior Lecturer for 24 years and held the position of the Chair of the History Department at the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. Dhammananda Thero is actively engaged in issues related to social justice and harmony that promote an inclusive plural society. He has been actively using social media to propagate the message of nonviolence during recent interreligious and interethnic conflicts in Sri Lanka. After his early retirement, he is dedicating more of his time to develop a reconciliation model in Sri Lanka. He completed his postgraduate studies in History from Jawaharlal Nehru University, India, and was part of the inaugural cohort of KAICIID International Fellows in 2015.