Songdhammakalyani Monastery

Songdhammakalyani Monastery (RTGS: Songthamkanlayani Phiksuni Aram) is a temple and monastery of Bhikkhuni in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand. It was founded in 1960 by Ven. Ta Tao Fa Tzu (born Voramai Kabilsingh), the first modern Thai woman to ordain as a bhikkhuni. The monastery was originally known as Wat Songdhammakalyani (the temple of women who uphold Dharma)." Songdhammakalyani Monastery was founded by Voramai Kabilsingh, who became interested in Buddhism and meditation in 1954 after a meeting with Luang Pu Sodh, at Wat Paknam in Bangkok. In 1956, Voramai took the lower ordination, wearing yellow robes to distinguish herself from mae chi or bhikkhu, and developed a following of other yellow robed women. In 1957, she purchased land in Nakhon Pathom to build Songdhammakalyani Monastery for women, which became a full temple in 1960. The monastery was the first Buddhist monastery in Thailand established by and for women, and operated a primary school for orphans, a printing press for Buddhist publications and provided social services for the poor. Voramai took higher ordination as a full bhikkhuni in a Dharmaguptaka lineage in Taiwan in 1971 with the monastic name Ta Tao Fa Tzu. In 2001, Voramai's daughter took ordination as a samaneri, or female novice monk, and in 2003, she received full ordination in Sri Lanka, which recently reestablished the b

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