Barua (Bangladesh)

Buddhist Monastery in Moheshkhali

Dipa Ma, a prominent Buddhist master in Asia of Barua descent.

The Baruas used to follow Mahayana Buddhism and followed some of the Hindu customs until the mid 19th century when Saṅgharaj Sāramedha Mahāthera (1801–82) of Arakan, returning from Bodh Gaya, was invited to Chittagong in 1856.[7]

In the mid 19th century, the Baruas came into contact with Theravada Buddhists from Burma and Ceylon and are now thus mainly followers of Theravada Buddhism.[8]

The first Pāli school in modern times was stated at Pahartali, Chittagong by Ācarya Punnācāra with the financial backing from a zamindar, Haragobinda Mutsuddi in 1885.[9] Bauddha Dharmankur Sabha Buddhist religious organisation founded by Kripasharan Mahasthavir in Calcutta on 5 October 1892.[10] Kripasharan Mahasthavir was its first president and Surendralal Mutsuddi its secretary. The journal of the Dharmankur Sabha, Jagajjyoti, edited by Gunalangkar Sthavir and Shraman Punnananda Swami, was first published in 1908. It was subsequently also edited by Benimadhab Barua.

Noted scholar Dr. Benimadhab Barua(1888-1948), was born in 1888 in the village of Mahamuni under Raozan Thana, Chittagong. He was the son of Kaviraj Rajchandra Talukder. Benimadhab assumed the title of ‘Barua’. In 1913 he obtained MA degree in Pali from University of Calcutta. He also studied law at Calcutta City College and Calcutta Law College. He became one of the pioneers of revitalization of Buddhism in the Barua Community. Benimadhab joined Mahāmuni Anglo-Pāli Institution as headmaster in 1912. From 1913-14 he worked as a lecturer in the Pāli department of the University of Calcutta. He went to England on a government scholarship in 1914. He earned an MA in Greek and Modern European Philosophy from the University of London. In 1917 he was awarded a D.Litt. by the University of London. He was the first Asian to do so. After returning to India in 1918, Benimadhab rejoined Calcutta University and was promoted to professorship. He improvised the syllabus of the MA course in Pali, apart from his work in the departments of Ancient Indian History and Culture (1919–48) and Sanskrit (1927–48) in the same university.[1] [11]

Anagarika Dharmapala visited Chittagong in 1917 where he influenced a 9-year-old boy, who later became the well known Pali scholar Prof. Dwijendra Lal Barua.[12]

• Barua Buddhist Monks
• Barua Buddhist Institutes in India and Bangladesh
• Barua festivals
• Shalban Vihara
• Re-emergence of Buddhism in India

• Article: A Brief History of Barua Community in Bangladesh