On the 21st September 2008, falls the 118th death anniversary of Ven. Migettuwatte Gunananda who spearheaded the famous debates between the Buddhists and the Christians at Baddegama, Udanvita, Gampola, Waragoda, Liyanagemulla and Panadura in the 2nd half of the 19th century. He was born at Migettuwatta (Mohottiwatta) in Balapitiya in the Galle District on the 9th February 1823 to a Buddhist family. From his early childhood he had a close relationship with a Catholic priest who was residing in a nearby church. It gave him the opportunity to read the Bible in addition to so many other Christian books and study Christianity. He had at one point, the intention of becoming a Catholic priest. However, in the meantime, he came into contact with some Bhikkhus of the nearby temples. This caused him to change his mind about joining the Catholic Clergy. After few days he went to the Kumara Maha Viharaya in Dodanduwa which was also known as Gala Uda Viharaya and stayed there for some time. He was ordained a Bhikkhu by the Chief incumbent of the temple, Ven. Thelikada Sonuttara Thera. While staying in the temple, he acquired proficiency in oriental languages and Buddhism.
One day while he was reading the magazine ‘Bauddha Sahodaraya’, he came to understand that in Colombo city Christian power was such, that a Buddhist monk could not walk in the streets without becoming the butt of sarcastic remarks from Christians. Venerable Gunananda Thera was greatly disturbed by this news. This made him decide to come to Colombo and reside in Deepaduttaaramaya in Kotahena. While he was there he started to deliver talks countering Christian arguments against Buddhism. When Buddhism was introduced to Sri Lanka during the reign of King Devanampiyatissa in the month of Poson (June) 306 BC, it received royal patronage. The idea that the King of Sri Lanka had to be a Buddhist was rooted in the soil and this was never changed until the Kingship was abolished in 1815. From 1505, the time the Portuguese invaded the country, the Sinhalese and Buddhism suffered a severe setback due to the acts of the Catholic Missionaries. With the deterioration of discipline within the Sangha, Theravada Buddhism would have disappeared from the country if not for the valiant efforts of Ven. Welivita Saranankara Maha Thera and King Kirthi Sri Rajasinghe who revived Buddhism and the Sangha organisation by the introduction of Upasampada or the higher ordination from Siam in 1753.
Even though the fifth clause of the Kandyan Convention signed in 1815, guaranteed the protection of Buddhism and its places of worship, the British did not honour it after they established their supremacy in the Kandyan provinces. After the rebellion of 1818, the British while promising to protect Buddhism dropped the world ‘inviolable’ which appeared in the fifth clause of the Kandyan convention, thereby giving an indication of the relaxation of the guarantees concerning the protection of Buddhist places of worship and the Sangha. The missionary schools overtook the Pirivena or the Buddhist temple schools by the year 1827. There were 96 schools managed by the Christian clergy, while 94 pirivena schools existed in the Kandyan provinces. There did not exist a single school for the education of Buddhist children. Moreover, there were no schools belonging to the Government in the Kandyan provinces. In addition, the British Government declared Sunday a public holiday on the 6th April 1817, thereby, cancelling the Poya day holiday enjoyed by the Buddhists since 242 BC.
In 1832 Colebrooke introduced English as the medium of instruction in the Government service. As a result, all Government Sinhala medium schools were closed in 1832. Instead, English schools were opened in main cities all over the island. The Colombo Academy, now Royal College in Colombo 07 was opened in 1836 as a direct result of the new policy on education. There were only two Buddhist schools in the country - in Panadura and Dodanduwa with an attendance of 246 children as against 805 Christian schools with an attendance of 78,086 children,