Ananda

Most Venerable Ānanda Maha Thera
Ven. Ananda asking water from Prakurti
Religion	Buddhism
Dharma names	Ananda
Personal
Born	Kapilavastu, Nepal
Died	(aged 120) Between the borders of Kapilavastu and Devadaha, Nepal
Parents	Shakya King Amitōdana (father)
Senior posting
Title	Aggaupaṭṭhāyaka - personal attendant of Gautama Buddha
Religious career
Teacher	Gautama Buddha & also Most Ven. Mantāniputta Punna Maha Thera (Āchariya) & Most Ven. Bellaṭṭhisīsa Maha Thera (Upajjhāya)
Students	Most Ven. Sabbakāmī Maha Thera, etc.

Ānanda (Chinese: 阿難; pinyin: Ānán, Burmese: အာနန္ဒာ [ʔànàɴdà]; Sinhalese: ආනන්ද මහ රහතන් වහන්සේ) was a first cousin of Gautama Buddha and one of his ten principal disciples. Amongst the Buddha's many disciples, Ānanda stood out for having the most retentive memory. Most of the sutras of the Sutta Pitaka are attributed to his recollection of the Buddha's teachings during the First Buddhist council. For that reason, he was known as the Guardian of the Dharma.

According to Buddhist tradition, every Buddha in the past and to come will have two chief disciples and one attendant during his ministry. In the case of Gautama Buddha, the pair of disciples were Sariputta and Maudgalyayana and the attendant was Ānanda.

The word 'Ānanda' means in Pali, Sanskrit as well as other Indian languages. It is a popular name in India and south-east Asia, especially Indonesia.

In the Kannakatthala Sutta (MN 90), Ananda is identified with the meaning of his name:

Ānanda was the first cousin of the Buddha by their fathers, and was devoted to him. In the twentieth year of the Buddha's ministry, he became the Buddha's personal attendant, accompanying him on most of his wanderings and taking the part of interlocutor in many of the recorded dialogues. He is the subject of a special panegyric delivered by the Buddha just before the Buddha's parinibbana (the Mahaparinibbana Sutta (DN 16)); it is a panegyric for a man who is kindly, unselfish, popular, and thoughtful toward others.