Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera

Sobitha Thera was born on 29 May 1942, Vesak, in the village of Maduluwewa in Padukka, Homagama, as Pathirage Don Rathnasekara. He studied at Maduluwawe Maha Vidyalaya and began living in the temple in Padukka at the age of 11, under the guardianship of his uncle, the Head Monk. He was ordained a novice monk on 9 May 1955 at the Kotte Sri Naga Viharaya. In 1962, after studying at the Vidyodaya and Vidyalankara Pirivenas, he received his higher ordination. In 1967, he became the Chief Incumbent of the Kotte Raja Maha Vihara.^[8][9]

He died on 6 November 2015 at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore,^[10][11] aged 73. The government announced a state funeral and a day of national mourning.^[12]

Sobitha Thera opposed President J. R. Jayawardena's policies and the executive presidential system. He participated in political movements and supported various opposition candidates.^[13] He was a leader of the anti-Indian intervention campaign in the late 1980s. He participated in the National Movement for a Just Society (NMJS).^[13][14][15]

He supported the common candidate Maithripala Sirisena for the presidency and Ranil Wickremesinghe to form a new government in 2015 and campaigned for the release of Sarath Fonseka.^{[5][16][17][18]} He campaigned against the executive presidential system of Sri Lanka and spoke out on social justice issues.^{[6][19][20][21]}

• 2015 Sri Lankan presidential election
• New Democratic Front (Sri Lanka)
• Athuraliye Rathana Thera