About Us
From Under the Bodhi Tree
The BISDS was first established as the Sunday Religious School in 1929, with an enrolment of 12 Sinhala children who studied the Sinhala language and chanting under the tutelage of the Late Ven. M. Dhammadassi Thera, the incumbent bhikkhu of the Brickfields Buddhist Temple. Classes were conducted with the strong support of the Sinhala community, and in its earliest days, the children would study under the Bodhi Tree within the temple grounds, fostering a serene and traditional learning environment.
Over time the Sunday Religious School came to be known by many other names such as Buddhist Religious School, Dhamma School, Sunday Dhamma School, Buddhist Institution, Dhamma Institution and the Buddhist Institute Sunday School. The minutes of the Sasana of 2nd May 1959 referred to the School as the Temple Sunday School. When the new School Building was ready in 1961, several names were proposed and finally, only the name “Buddhist Institution” went up on the building.
Sukhi Hontu! A warm welcome to the Buddhist Institute Sunday Dhamma School (BISDS), located within the serene grounds of the Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur.
Buddhist Institution Building (circa late 1961)
By the 1970s the name Buddhist Institution Dhamma School stuck with its popular acronym BISDS. During an AGM of the BISDS, the Late Chief Ven Dr. K Sri Dhammananda Nayaka Maha Thera proposed the name to be modified to the Buddhist Institute Sunday Dhamma School, and this proposal was unanimously adopted by the teachers. Since then, the school is named Buddhist Institute Sunday Dhamma School with its acronym BISDS.
1995 - 2016
School facilities improved substantially with the completion of the Wisma Dharma Cakra in January 1995. Having served the needs of the Vihara and the school since then, Wisma Dharma Cakra was renovated during 2017-2018 and re-opened in September 2018.
Fast Forward: BISDS Today
Fast forward, today, the BISDS is house in the spacious Wisma Dharma Cakra within the serene and spacious compound of the Buddhist Maha Vihara and equipped with modern teaching facilities in air-conditioned classrooms. The school, an educational arm of Buddhist Maha Vihara, offers Buddhist education to students age 6 to adults and is professionally managed. Dhamma teachers with support from non-teaching staff, together, ensure the smooth operation of the school and the delivery of holistic Buddhist education to students, fostering spiritual growth within the community.
