Venerable Kuppiyawatte Bodhananda Thero, the founder of the “Mithuru Mithuro” organization, was born into a business family in Kuppiyawatte, Colombo. He received his early education at Nalanda College, Colombo, and later entered the monastic life under the guidance of the Chief Prelate of the Kanduboda Siyane Vipassana Meditation Centre, receiving the monastic name Kuppiyawatte Bodhananda. There, he received his foundational Buddhist education and meditation training, and pursued in-depth studies in Buddhist philosophy at various educational institutions.
With the aim of healing a morally declining society through his own inner spiritual strength, he studied rural leadership training at the Pathakada Sarvodaya Bhikkshu Institute. From a young age, he dedicated himself to supporting marginalized individuals in society, including offenders, prisoners, and children without parents. Drawing on these experiences, in 1984, for the first time in the world, he initiated a method of residential rehabilitation under a court order in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice.
In 1987, starting with a small hut on a remote hilltop in the Rilhena village in Pelmadulla, Ratnapura, he began the “Mithuru Mithuro” movement with the goal of rehabilitating thousands of drug addicts and reintegrating them into society. To enhance this initiative, he participated in several international training programs organized by the Colombo Plan Secretariat, and became the first Asian to receive a scholarship to attend a six-month training program at the Daytop Village in New York, USA, where he qualified as a certified counselor.
Since then, he systematically developed a globally recognized community-based therapeutic model focused on youth rehabilitation, centered at the Mithuru Mithuro Rehabilitation Services Centre in Rilhena, Pelmadulla. In 1993, the movement formally evolved into the Mithuru Mithuro Organization, and was registered as a licensed private rehabilitation center, operating mainly from its Pelmadulla base.
The institution, which began purely from personal effort without any state or private financial support, has now expanded across three districts in Sri Lanka
Kuruwita (Nidahasa)
Gampaha (Nisansala)
Piliyandala (Senehasa)
Today, it can provide residential rehabilitation services to up to 500 youth at a time.Though primarily a rehabilitation service provider, Mithuru Mithuro also offers several other special services, including
Mithuru Lama Sevana
Susaviya Foundation
Pivithuru Sansadaya
The organization has since grown into a fully equipped, comprehensive service and research institution under the name “Mithuru Mithuro Institute for Human Values Development and Education”
In 1993, it was recognized as the best drug rehabilitation center in Sri Lanka and Venerable Kuppiyawatte Bodhananda Thero received many honorary titles such as Saddharma Prasadini, Sucharitha Sobhana, Sri Sangha Sobhana, Manava Hitavadi Deshaprasada, Nalanda Keerthi Sri, Vishva Keerthi Sri for his contributions to social service and rehabilitation.
His vision remains to build a better, more compassionate tomorrow not only for Sri Lankan society but for the world at large.