Completing master's and doctoral degrees from Sri Lanka and India respectively, he also served as rector of International Theravada Buddhist Missionary University from 2005 to 2019.

Nandamālā, the ninth of ten siblings,[2] was born on 22 March 1940[ME 1][3] to U San Hla and Daw Khin in Nyaungbin Village, Singu Township, Mandalay Division.

[6] All nine surviving members of Nandamālā's family, including his parents, eventually joined Buddhist order of monks and nuns and entered the Vipassanā Monastery.

[12] On 1 June 1958,[ME 3] Nandamālā and his five brothers – Nārada, Vimala, Ñānabala, Uttara, and Gandhasāra[13] – founded Mahā Subodhāyon Monastery in Sagaing.

[16] On 22 April 1959,[ME 4] with the support[nb 4] of Thar Din and Kyin from Mandalay, Ashin was ordained as a monk at Sāsana Mañjarī Ordination Hall in Mahāsubodhāyon Monastery, under the patronage of Sankin Sayadaw.

[21][22] Nandamālā served as a member of the Sagaing Township Saṅgha Mahā Nāyaka Committee of Shwegyin Nikāya,[23] which was formed after the First Congregation of All Orders for the Purification, Perpetuation and Propagation of Sāsanā was held in Rangoon from 24 to 27 May 1980.

[26] For further studies, Nandamālā arrived at Kandi-Myanmar Monastery, in Sri Lanka, in January 1987[27] and pursued a diploma at Kelaniya University in July.

[36][37] In 1998, when International Theravada Buddhist Missionary University was first established,[38] Nandamālā served as a visiting professor and gave lectures on Abhidhamma, for the request of Sitagu Sayadaw.

[52] On 3 December 2022, taking the position of chancellor, Nandamālā officially founded the University of Wisdom Land in Hlegu Township, Yangon.