by Walter Jayawardhana
Creating history, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II conferred the title, Member of the British Empire (MBE) on Sri Lankan Buddhist monk, Venerable Galayaye Piyadassi Thera in recognition of his long record of charitable services.

Venerable Piyadassi is the first Buddhist monk ever to be honoured by a reigning British monarch by conferring a British title. The queen awards such titles annually on her birthday to individuals who have done a tremendous service to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations.

This year’s awardees also included another Sri Lanka born man, philanthropist Christopher Ondaatje who became a business tycoon after becoming a naturalised citizen of Canada but now based in the UK. He was conferred with a knighthood. He is a member of the exclusive club of Labor’s ‘million plus’ donors and he has also given over a million pounds to the Royal Geographical Society and the National Portrait Gallery, who named a wing of the gallery after him.

Sri Lanka dropped conferring the British imperial titles following India under the MEP government of the late S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike in 1956.

Ven. Galayaye Piyadassi, who is a British subject is the head of a Buddhist Temple in North London, the Sri Saddhatissa International Buddhist Center in Kingsbury. The Queen’s honour came to the Buddhist monk less than two months after a leading British local government council offered him the Citizenship Award for the London Borough of Brent in recognition of community service and charitable work he had done during many years in the past.

In a statement from London Wimal Silva said, "Ven. Piyadassi Thera is the President of the World Buddhist Foundation, head of Sri Saddatissa International Buddhist Center and the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Educational, Cultural and Welfare Foundation, all engaged in charitable and community activities among Sri Lankans and many other religious and racial groups living in the cosmopolitan city of London. Under a separate organisation called Mettha Foundation he has set up a care-home for homeless children in Sri Lanka, and at present is providing welfare and educational needs for more than 52 delinquent juveniles.

"At the height of communal tension in Sri Lanka, he came forward to provide an example of communal harmony by bringing together both major communities in Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese and the Tamils in a combined Sri Lankan New Year festival in London. This became an annual event and now the "Kingsbury New Year Festival" is a well-known and very popular annual event among all Sri Lankans and attracts the largest crowd for such an event in London.

"Ven. Piyadassi Thera was also responsible for organising for the first time an all night Pirith chanting ceremony at a temple in Europe with all the traditional rituals. Since then like the Sinhala New Year all night Pirith chanting has become a normal event on the Sri Lankan Buddhist calendar in many temples situated across European cities. For the first time outside Sri Lanka Ven. Piyadassi Thera introduced a traditional "Wesak dansala" and a compact disc with maha piritha was also produced using a recording made at the temple.

"As far as religious activities are concerned the Exposition of Buddha Relics held in 1996 was the most important and biggest event the Ven. Thera has undertaken so far. This became a unique event in the history of Buddhism in the UK and thousands of Europeans were among those who came to witness and pay respect to the corporal relics of the Buddha.

"He was also responsible for organizing the UK Buddha day, which is now held annually to celebrate the advent of Buddhism to the UK by a well-known and first ever British national to become a Buddhist Priest, Ven. Ananda Metteyya.

"At the Sri Saddatissa International Buddhist Center a free Sunday school is held where the vernacular language and Buddhism are taught to more than 100 regular students between the ages of 3 to 16. Almost all the students are British born and would not have any other opportunity to follow such studies outside the temple.

"Visiting sick and elderly in their homes, hospitals or care-homes to provide comfort by chanting Pirith is one service Ven. Piyadassi Thera always give priority to. Many receive a great comfort and blessing by this most generous and kind hearted gesture by someone who is immensely respected in the society.

"With all these busy activities Ven. Piyadassi Thera is also involved at present in an ambitious research work on the influence of Theravada Buddhism in the UK."