Dhammacharini Dhammalochana visited Nagaloka for the first time on 4th January 2014. As she had played such a significant role in the beginning of Triratna in India, we took the opportunity to felicitate her.
She was one of the first members of the Triratna Buddhist Order in India, ordained in 1979. She was involved in social activism from a very young age, and had contact with Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar on several occasions. After the conversions to Buddhism she became the leading light of the Pune Buddhist Women’s Association and as such organised most of Ven Sangharakshita’s programmes in Pune in the late 50’s and early 60’s.
When Lokamitra first came to Pune in October 1977, she managed his programme. It was her support that gave Lokamitra the confidence to return to India in mid 1978 to work here, and so the Triratna movement owes an enormous debt to her. She played a leading role in Triratna, especially in developing the magazine, Buddhayan, for several years, but family and work responsibilities meant that she was not able to continue as she would have liked.
The students were very inspired by her story, and we hope that she was pleased to see that what she helped to start is now spreading all over India.
