10^th anniversary of GLBV

The Great Lakes Buddhist Vihara, which celebrates its 10^th anniversary, is a noble result of the hard work of handful of dedicated people who have lived in the Great Lakes areas including Southern Ontario, Canada. Some ten years ago, Buddhist temples or Viharas, in any Buddhist traditions, were very rare in this part of the country. Especially, the Buddhists who follow the Theravada Sri Lankan tradition happen to go to New York, Washington DC or Toronto, Canada to get the service of a temple when they needed. Meanwhile, Buddhists who lived in Michigan and Ontario, Canada had some discussions to establish a place of worship with the guidance of Buddhist monks who were from the West-end Vihara, Canada.

After having several meetings on this matter, on November 17^th, 1996 an ad’hoc committee was formed. The committee led by Vijitha Kiridena with seven other members, namely: Bhadrani Chelladurai, Bandu Kodithuwakku, Subhadra Dewundara, K. Karunarathna, Prabhath Rajakaruna, Prabodha Wijethunga, and Chinthana Herath, launched a survey to find the possibilities of starting a temple as an experiment, at least for one year period.

Due to the positive response, the committee planned the establishing of a temple. On March 5^th 1997, Great Lakes Buddhist Vihara was incorporated in the state of Michigan to work on four main objectives. This includes to start and to maintain a place of Buddhist worship, to teach, promote, and to advance the teaching of the lord Buddha. Later, the ad’hoc committee was changed into the first trustee board with the full consensus of the congregation and held its first board meeting on March 14^th, 1997. Then, the board, after careful research found a place to locate the Vihara in Southfield. On April 19^th, 1997, on an auspicious time, the Vihara was opened in the White Hall apartment Complex. The Vihara grew with the generous support of the Buddhist community. Then, everybody felt that the temple should have more facilities with more space. To fulfill the growing needs of the devotees, the Board of Trustees were busy finding a suitable place for the temple. On June 2^nd, 2000, the Vihara was moved to a new location at 26105 Shiawassee Road, Southfield. But, the rapid growth of the congregation proved the inconvenience of limited space of the Vihara. So, the management started finding solutions to the matter. Finally, the Vihara was moved to its current location at 21491 Beech Road, Southfield, on November 5^th, 2005.

In this important moment of the Vihara’s 10^th anniversary, we pay our sincere thanks and gratitude to all who have worked tirelessly for the growth and safeguard of this place dedicating their time, money, and other resources.

--- Bhante Muditha

GLBV Board of Trustees 1997-2007

Year	President	Vice President	Secretary	Treasurer	Trustees
1997	Rev. B. Muditha	Vijitha Kiridena	Bhadrani Chelladurai	Bandu Kodithuwakku, Chandrapala Liyanarachchi	Subhadra Deundara, Karunaratne Kaluarachchge, Prabhath Rajakaruna, Prabodha Wijetunga, Chinthana Herath
1997-1998	Rev. B. Muditha	Vijitha Kiridena	Bhadrani Chelladurai	Chandrapala Liyanarachchi	Nalaka Edirisinghe, Wimal Jayakody, K. Jayawardhana, Srini Demel
1998-1999	Rev. P. Sujatha	Harsha Jayathilaka	Don Sassanayaka	Sarath Silva, Rohitha Weerasinghe	Nalaka Edirisinghe, Wimal Jayakody, K. Jayawardhana, Srini Demel
1999-2000	Rev. P. Sujatha	Rajika Munasinghe	Don Sassanayaka	Rohitha Weerasinghe	Chinthana Herath, Kapila Kithsiri, Sarath Silva, K. Jayawardhana, Bartram Perera, Ajith Velihinda
2000-2001	Rev. P. Sujatha	Chinthana Herath	Shripal Fernando	Jayantha Liyanage	Rev. P. Sathindriya, Kapila Kithsiri, Bartram Perera, Leela Jayawardhana, Chandratilaka Liyanarachchi
2001-2002	Rev. B. Muditha	Shripal Fernando	Chandratilaka Liyanarachchi	Jayantha Liyanage, Bhadrani Chelladurai	Lohitha Dewasurendra, Andy Nancarrow, Saman Jayantha, Jayantha Liyanage, Rohana Jayatilleke, H. R. Dissanayake
2002-2003	Rev. B. Muditha	H. R. Dissanayake	Andy Nancarrow	Lohitha Dewasurendra	Rev. Y. Sankichcha, Vijitha Kiridena, Subhadra Deundara, Gothamie Senevirathne, Mahinda Ranasinghe
2003-2004	Rev. B. Muditha	Vijitha Kiridena	Richard Smith Gomika Udugamasooriya	Chandrapala Liyanarachchi	Rev. Y. Sankichcha, Champa Dassanayaka, Subhadra Deundara, Harsha Jayathilaka, Sunil Jayawardhana
2004-2005	Rev. B. Muditha	Sunil Jayawardana	Gomika Udugamasooriya, Richard Smith	Chandrapala Liyanarachchi, Rohitha Weerasinghe	Rev. Y. Sankichcha, Upali Fonseka, Champa Dassanayaka, Sarath Silva
2005-2006	Rev. B. Muditha	Prasad Ramawickrama	Juli Davidson, Pahan Godakimbura Shripal Fernando	Rohitha Weerasinghe	Rev. Y. Sankichcha, Sarath Silva, Dona Rupasinghe, Upali Fonseka
2006-2007	Rev. B. Muditha	Prasad Ramawickrama	Mary Brodwell, Somasiri Kannangara	Namal Kumara	Rev. Y. Sankichcha, Wimal Jayakody, Ajith Karunarathna, Dona Rupasinghe

Great Lakes Buddhist Vihara, Monks Residence, 21491, Beech Road, Southfield, Michigan 48033, USA
Telephone: (248)353-8155 , (248)232-7383 Fax: (248)232-1267
The Great Lakes Buddhist Vihara is run by a non-profit tax-exempted organization. All your donations are tax-deductible.