Like his predecessor, he was born in the village of Kirinde in Matara, Sri Lanka on 24 July 1948, the second of five children of Basnayaka Mudiyanselage Siriwardena, an Ayurvedic physician, and Withanaarachchilage Dayawathie.

Immediately after graduating, he entered monastic life as a novice monk taking the name Kirinde Dhammaratana under the guidance of Venerable Kotawila Sri Deepananda Nayaka Thero.

In 1980, with the Venerable K. Sri Dhammananda's invitation, he traveled to Malaysia to be a resident monk at the Buddhist Maha Vihara in Kuala Lumpur.

After his return from the United States in 1994, Dhammaratana was instrumental in setting up Ti-Ratana Welfare Society in Salak South Garden with the assistance of his friends, donors and supporters at the Buddhist Maha Vihara, and very soon developed it by adding various sections such as free clinics, orphanage, elderly homes and refugee centres for the neglected children and mothers.

On 12 March 2007 he was appointed as Chief Sangha Nayaka of Malaysia by the Malwatta Chapter of the Siam Nikaya.