Way back in 1993, Ven. Bhikkhu Binaysree Mahathero, a dedicated Buddhist Monk along with Mr. Manik Baran Barua and few other devotees stepped into the spiritual land of Santiniketanin the quest for propagating the teachings of Buddha or ‘Dhamma’ for the benefit of the common people. The endeavor came into existence by establishing “Santiniketan Ambedkar Buddhist Welfare Mission” in a small land of approx. 3600 sq ftin Sonajhuri Pally, Santiniketan, Birbhum, West Bengal.

Shantiniketan, where the Mission is established, literally means ‘Abode of Peace’ named by Rabindra Nath Tagore, a great poet and noble laureate who described Buddha as “The greatest Human Being world has ever seen”. Tagore established an institution here called Vishwabharati for humanistic education which later became known as Vishwabarati University. Shantiniketan is a place considered to be the spiritual centre where people from all religion were invited to join the meditation programmes during the early 19th century beside being famous for the local folk singers famously called Baul singers.It is approximately 166 Km away from Kolkata, the main city of Eastern part of India in the state of West Bengal.

The Mission is named after “Bharat Ratna” Dr. B. R.Ambedkar, a renowned writer, philanthropist, jurist, economist, politician and a great social reformer. He is also known as the Revivalist of ‘Buddhism’ in India and is also regarded as ‘Bodhisattva’ by Indian Buddhists.After tireless efforts, a small temple was built and inaugurated on 22 February 2002. Subsequently, more rooms were added as many monks and laity started visiting the temple from different parts of India.Besides Dhamma activities, charitable work like dental clinic, sewing and tailoring unit, homeopathy clinics as well as cultural interactions with folk artistes became a regular feature of Mission’s activities.

In this journey towards the path to enlightenment through the propagation of Dhamma and service to mankind, the Mission is striving forward with its future plans and objectives to be materialized in its newly acquired land of 3 acres in Ballabhpurdanga Shantiniketan, which is 1.5 Km away from the existing temple patronized by the District Administration of Birbhum, Govt. of West Bengal. We look forward to your esteemed patronage, benevolence and generous contribution to fulfill all the Dreams of the Mission and share the merit of service to humanity.