Island Hermitage on (Polgasduwa) Dodanduwa Island, Galle District, Sri Lanka is a famous Buddhist forest monastery founded by Ven. Nyanatiloka Mahathera in 1911. It has an excellent English and German library. It is a secluded place for Buddhist monks to study and meditate in the Buddhist tradition.
The Island Hermitage was the first centre of Theravāda Buddhist study and practice set up by and for Westerners. Its many prominent residents, monks and laymen, studied Theravada Buddhism and the Pali language, made translations of Pali scriptures, wrote books on Theravada Buddhism and practised meditation. The Island Hermitage once formed an essential link with Theravāda Buddhism in the West.
Since 2003 the hermitage is run by a group of young Sri Lankan monks who are very strict. There are currently no Western monks present.
Read more about Island Hermitage: Location, History, Visiting, Abbots, Well-known Monastic Residents
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