Asoka Weeraratna

Asoka Weeraratna අසෝක වීරරත්න
Asoka Weeraratna
Born	12 December 1918 Galle, Sri Lanka
Died	2 July 1999(1999-07-02) (aged 80) Mitirigala, Sri Lanka
Nationality	Sri Lankan (Sinhala)
Other names	Alfred Weeraratna Mitirigala Dhammanisanthi Thera
Education	Mahinda College, Galle
Known for	Propagation of Buddhism

Asoka Weeraratna was a Sri Lankan [Sinhala] Buddhist missionary, who founded the German Dharmaduta Society in 1952. He is also the founder of the Berlin Buddhist Vihara, one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Europe and Mitirigala Nissarana Vanaya, a famous meditation monastery in the Western Province, Sri Lanka. Asoka Weeraratna later entered the Order of Buddhist monks in 1972 as Ven. Mitirigala Dhammanisanthi Thera and spent his later life as a forest monk at the Mitirigala Nissarana Vanaya for a period of 27 years.