Pragyananda Mahasthavir

Pragyananda Mahasthavir (Nepali: प्रज्ञानन्द महास्थविर) (born Kul Man Singh Tuladhar) (2 May 1900 – 11 March 1993) was a Nepalese Buddhist monk who was one of the leaders of the revival of Theravada Buddhism in Nepal.

[1][2] Pragyananda served Buddhism and wrote religious literature in Nepal Bhasa when both the religion and language were being suppressed by the autocratic Rana regime.

[7] He was married and running a flourishing business house when he met Mahapragya, a Nepalese monk of the Tibetan Buddhism school.

Inspired by Mahapragya, he renounced the life of a householder and became a Tibetan novice monk, taking the name Karmasheel.

The Rana regime ordered the monks to stop preaching Buddhism and writing in Nepal Bhasa.

[12][13] Pragyananda and the other monks returned to Nepal in 1946 after the ban was lifted following international pressure, and they resumed their work to spread Theravada Buddhism.

In 2001, the Postal Service Department of the government of Nepal issued a commemorative postage stamp depicting his portrait.