Brisbane Buddhist Vihara (Temple) Inc. and Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage
The Brisbane Buddhist Vihara (temple) was established in Highgate Hill, Brisbane in 1982, by Siripala (Siri) Mendis and his wife Swarna Mendis, a century after Theravadan Buddhism had first been established in Australia by the Sri Lankan community on Thursday Island. Siri was the eldest son of P. H. (Punchi Hewa) Mendis, a prominent Sri Lankan Buddhist and Thursday Island pearl merchant and jeweller. P.H. Mendis and his family moved to Brisbane during World War II and established a jewellery store there. P.H. Mendis returned to the island after the war, and Siri and Swarna continued to operate the Brisbane store, and another in Toowoomba, and later in Wynnum in Southern Queensland.1 The Vihara had a shrine room where teachings in English were delivered to reach the broader Australian community. The Vihara shifted to Rocklea, and then to a larger property in Ellen Grove.2
The Mendis family have made and continue to make a significant contribution to Buddhism in Australia, over three generations. Siri and Swarna’s two sons, Duleendra and Haeman Mendis, still live in Brisbane, and Haeman owns a jewellery store there. The family was also involved in establishing the Theravadan Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage, in 2007, just outside of Brisbane in the Thai Forest tradition. The Brisbane Buddhist Vihara community fundraised to purchase and move to the property in Kholo. Ajahn Dhammasiha, a German born monk ordained in Sri Lanka, is its founding and current Abbot. In 2009, the monastery was formally recognised as an associated monastery of the Ajahn Chah tradition, and hosts visiting teachers in this lineage. The monastery holds regular Dharma talks, meditation, Buddhist celebrations retreats and podcasts. It is frequented by members of the Sri Lankan, Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian and broader Brisbane communities.3
By: Anna Halafoff and Sioh Yang Tan
References:
1 Stanley J. Sparkes and Anna Shnukal, “The Sri Lankan settlers of Thursday Island,” in Navigating boundaries: The Asian diaspora in Torres Strait, ed. Anna Shnukal, Guy Ramsay, and Yuriko Nagata (ANU Press, 2017), 161–202; Bernard Swan, “Sinhalese emigration to Queensland in the nineteenth century: A note,” Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society 67, no. 1 (1981): 55–63; W. S. Weerasooria, Links between Sri Lanka and Australia: A book about the Sri Lankans (Ceylonese) in Australia (The Government Press, 1988); Paul Croucher, Buddhism in Australia: 1848–1988 (New South Wales University Press, 1989).
2 Duleendra Mendis, personal communication, August 29, 2026.
3 Weerasooria, Links between Sri Lanka and Australia; Patrick Jory, “Queensland’s Theravada Buddhist temples,” Queensland Atlas of Religion, June 2024, https://qareligion.com.au/queenslands-theravada-buddhist-temples/; “Home,” Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage, accessed September 3, 2026, https://www.dhammagiri.net.