S. Mahinda

Ven S.Mahinda Thero
Born	Pempa Tendupi Serky Cherin 1901 Gangtok, Sikkim, India
Died	16 March 1951 Sri Lanka
Residence	Sri Lanka
Other names	Sikkim Mahinda, Tibet Jathika S. Mahinda Himi
Education	Vidyodaya Pirivena, Maradana
Known for	Poet, author, Sri Lankan Independence Movement
Notable work	Nidahase Dehena, Nidahase Manthraya, Lanka Matha, Jathika Thotilla, Ada Lak Mawage Puttu, Nidahasa, Videshikayakugen Lak Mawata Namaskarayak, Sinhala Jathiya

Sikkim Mahinda, commonly known as S. Mahinda, was a Buddhist monk from the state of Sikkim. He was a poet and author, and participated in the Sri Lankan independence movement. Although he was from Sikkim, he identified himself as a Tibetan, presumably because it was more well known in Ceylon.

S. Mahinda arrived in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) at a young age and was ordained as a Buddhist monk. Having learned the Sinhala language, he became a poet, creating several literary works inspiring patriotism among the Sinhalese and urging them to fight for their freedom during Sri Lankan Independence movement.. He is now considered a national hero of Sri Lanka and one among the greatest of Sinhalese poetry figures of all time.

S. Mahinda was born around 1901 in Sikkim and named Pempa Tendupi Serky Cherin. His family lived in Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim. He had three brothers; the first would later become a lecturer of the University of Calcutta, the second would be the prime minister of the king, and the third would join the Buddhist priesthood. Their elder half-brother, who looked after the family following the death of their father, was Kazi Dawa Samdup. His childhood friend Tashi Namgyal would become the king of Sikkim. S. Mahinda had used his name as a pseudonym in Sri Lanka, leading to the belief that it was his real name.

Serky received a scholarship, with an annual allowance of six rupees, to study Buddhism in Ceylon and arrived there in 1912 or 1914. At the time, the country was under British rule. Sikkim Punnaji, his elder brother who was already a Buddhist monk, accompanied him.

The two brothers stayed at the Island Heritage in Polgasduwa, southern Ceylon, and learned Buddhism under the German monk Nyanatiloka. He was then sent to the Vidyodaya Pirivena in Maradana, and admitted to a school there to learn English. After this, he returned to the Island Hermitage, and learned Sinhala and Pali languages. With the outbreak of World War I, his mentor Nyanatiloka Thera was arrested. His brother Sikkim Punnaji also appears to have died around this time, while he was himself interned twice by the government.

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