Sri Lanka Buddhist Vihara

The temple of the Tisarana Sri Lanka Buddhist Association changed the name, from Oslo Buddhist Vihara to Sri Lanka Buddhist Vihara of Norway, in March 2021, after moved to larger premises in Hurdal, 80km north of Oslo.
The chief incumbent Ven Marathugoda Manirathana Thero has served the Oslo
Buddhist Vihara since its establishment in March 2011 and has made a tremendous effort to establish the Sri Lanka Buddhist Vihara of Norway in Hurdal together with Ven. Unapane Pemananda Thero, the Executive Committee and members of Tisarana.
The temple runs according to the Theravada Buddhist principles and Sri Lankan traditions, and has become a landmark for Sri Lankan Buddhists in Norway. Since the establishment, the temple has developed a very friendly approach to many groups of people and the temple activities designed to promote the spiritual values and social harmony within the society. Today the temple is supported by Sri Lankan community regardless of their religious and ethnic identity as well as the Norwegian Buddhists, non-Buddhists and others.

The temple facilitates celebrating the main Buddhist events such as Vesak, Poson, Katina, New Year blessings, full moon day retreat programs, and number of other events throughout the year. These Buddhist celebrations are common even in the western countries today. By facilitating this kind of traditional religious celebrations, temple contributes Sri Lankan Buddhist to maintain their cultural roots and transfer those values to the next generation.
Sri Lanka Buddhist Vihara of Norway has implemented number of different programs to improve the spiritual values among the devotees. Some of the activities are:

• Daily ritual of Buddhists- Puja & personal worship and meditation – Open for anybody who like to participate
• Weekly mediation program – Every Thursday evening 18.00 – 19.30
• Full moon day retreat programs & weekend retreat programs individual and communal grief work /commemorations
• Sunday school “Daham Pasal” for children
• Resource center for Norwegian school classes and teachers
• Facilitate courses in Buddhism, Buddhist philosophy and meditation; The
• temple in near future will facilitate courses in Buddhism, meditation retreats in monthly basis, It will also developed to be a recourse center for the students who study the Buddhism as a subject in the schools and higher education institutes.
• Inter-religious activities and discussions to maintain multicultural understanding which is very important in the modern society. The temple works to build bridges between communities and creating tolerance and mutual respect.