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This post weaves my own journey to uncover the living bhikkhunīs with a careful look at their history from the Buddha’s time to today, blending personal discovery and serious research.

Personal Introduction

It was August 2020, during a Zoom conference organized by Payap Lifelong Learning: “Women in Buddhism.” I signed up out of curiosity, expecting to hear about Thai Mae Chi—women in white who support the monks—or about Burmese thilashin, dressed in pink and living monastic lives without full ordination.

But when Dhammananda appeared on the screen wearing a saffron robe, I was stunned!
There are fully ordained female equivalents of monks, they are called bhikkhunīs.

Even more surprising, I learned that this tradition goes back to the time of the Buddha, yet today these women are not fully recognized in society, even though they follow the same 227 basic rules (Pātimokkha) as monks—plus 121 additional precepts.

Dhammananda Bhikkhunī explained that their presence in the Sangha is vital.
They have a complementary role: for example, where monks cannot intervene—inside women’s prisons, with pregnant women, or with a mother who has just given birth—bhikkhunīs step in, offer blessings, and tie protective threads.

I was struck by the pragmatic, unsuperstitious vision Dhammananda shared with us.
When asked whether she also blesses vehicles, she said yes, of course – but she always adds that careful driving is the best way to avoid accidents. This practice, at once rigorous and down-to-earth, revealed to me a form of Buddhism I had rarely heard before.

The Statues of the First Bhikkhunīs

Dhammananda told us the story of thirteen statues of the first bhikkhunīs, banished from a Bangkok temple after a provincial chief demanded: “Erase their names. Monks cannot venerate women, even if they are saints”. Torn, the abbot entrusted them to Dhammananda for 2,000 baht—a symbolic offering, though each statue was worth 50,000. With no place to house them, she built the Vihara Yasodhara, where they now inspire pilgrims.

At the end of the conference, a certainty gripped me: I had to see these women in saffron robes, not in photos or theory, but in the flesh. I had to go to Nakhon Pathom to see with my own eyes the golden-metal statues of the first bhikkhunīs ordained by the Buddha. I had just understood that without the Bhikkhunīs, Buddhism is incomplete.

So I climbed onto my little motorbike and set out for Nakhon Pathom.

Visit to Songdhammakalyani Monastery, Nakhon Pathom

December 16, 2020 – Nakhon Pathom

I wake early in Nakhon Pathom and sip coffee at Amazon, watching the town quietly come alive: children in uniforms heading to school, police guiding traffic, the ordinary rhythm of a small Thai city.

Then comes the moment: the temple of the bhikkhunīs. The road is intimidating, wide, noisy, arrogant. I take the wrong side; the traffic is frightening. But I recover and soon pass through the gate of Wat Songdhammakalyani, parking my little motorbike.

At first glance, it looks like any other Thai temple.

A polite silence greets me. No one quite knows what to make of this unexpected visitor. I hesitate, fumbling in my broken Thai, not even sure myself why I have come, until a nun approaches with an English-speaking greeting, smiling but curious. “I… I would like to see the statues of the bhikkhunīs, if that’s possible.” Her face lights up. “Of course!” And suddenly I’m no longer a stranger. I’m a guest.

There they stand, aligned in serene stillness: thirteen of the first bhikkhunīs ordained by the Buddha, women whose names nearly vanished. I look at each in turn. I recognize the name of the Buddha’s aunt. So it’s true! The Buddhist family is whole again.

A nun offers me coffee and invites me to sit. She is Venerable Dhammaparipunna, a former university lecturer with a PhD from New Zealand. She felt called to take an active role in Buddhism and left her lay life to be ordained as a bhikkhunī in India. The quiet strength of her faith moves me. We share a moment of simple conversation, unlike anything I have experienced with a monk. A second nun joins us: Venerable Dhammavaci.

The Healing Buddha

They guide me to the Hall of the Healing Buddha—a magnificent image designed by Dhammananda herself. I sit at the back while the nuns chant, as is customary in Thai temples. Then one of them hands me a bottle of water with a gesture both simple and solemn. “This is blessed water,” she says. I take it with both hands. “You know,” she adds softly, “it’s not magic. Each day we chant here. The vibrations of our voices pass through the water. It’s the sound waves that purify.” I nod, touched by this explanation—both scientific and sacred. Later in the day, when I drink the water, I must admit: I have never tasted anything so pure.

Then Venerable Dhammananda appears, finished with her morning writing routine, strolling through the temple garden. Dhammaparipunna announces my visit. She approaches this unusual visitor that I am. I stammer a greeting, awed. I explain that I attended her conference a few months earlier and felt the need to come. She suggests we sit beneath a tree. I listen, fascinated. Her wisdom and humor impress me. What a presence!

Before leaving, I sign the visitor book and promise that next time I’ll announce my visit and stay for the communal meal.

I ride away with a peaceful heart. Now I know the family is complete: the Sangha is double—bhikkhus (monks) and bhikkhunīs (nuns). The laity is double too: upāsakā (men) and upāsikā (women). Buddhism is like a chair resting on four legs.

Historical Background of the Bhikkhunis

The word bhikkhunī, from Pali, is the feminine form of bhikkhu, which means a Buddhist monk or, literally, “one who lives on alms.” A bhikkhunī is therefore a fully ordained woman in the Buddhist tradition (Wikipedia). English does not have a direct term for a female monk. A ‘nun’ is not the same as a monk, whereas in French, the feminine form moniale clearly corresponds to a female monk.

The story of the bhikkhunis goes back to the beginnings of Buddhism, with Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī, the Buddha’s aunt and adoptive mother, the first woman to receive ordination.

The First Ordination of a Woman in the Buddha’s Time

Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī was the Buddha’s aunt, the one who cared for the young prince as a child. After her husband’s death, she made a decision that surprised the whole court: she wished to join the monastic community founded by her adoptive son, the Buddha.

She came to the Buddha and asked for ordination. But he refused. Once. Twice. Three times.

The Buddha, who traveled widely across northern India to teach, left for Vesali. Mahāpajāpatī did not give up. She shaved her head, put on simple robes like a mendicant, and set off toward the Mahāvana forest with five hundred Sakya princesses. Together they made a long, difficult pilgrimage on foot to Vesali. When they reached the monastery gate, they collapsed—dusty, feet swollen, in tears.

The Venerable Ānanda saw them. Moved, he decided to intercede. But the Buddha again refused. Then Ānanda asked a different, simple question:
— Master, can a woman who enters the community reach holiness, the end of all desires?

The Buddha replied:
— Yes, she can.

Ānanda insisted. Mahāpajāpatī was not just any disciple—she was the aunt who had raised Siddhartha, protected and nourished him. The Buddha remained silent. Then he agreed, but with conditions: women would follow a stricter discipline than men. Before full ordination, they would observe six years of training. They would need ordination from both nuns and monks. And once ordained, they would follow 311 precepts, compared to 227 for men.

Mahāpajāpatī accepted without hesitation. She became the first bhikkhunī in history. The princesses who came with her were also ordained. The women’s community was born and soon spread across India and then to Sri Lanka, thanks to Sanghamittā, the daughter of Emperor Aśoka.

Mahāpajāpatī herself reached the highest stage of realization: the state of arahant. When she passed away, the Buddha honored her by walking behind her funeral procession—a tribute he gave to no other person.

This story is told in the Bhikkhunī Vagga and its commentaries. The Bhikkhunī Vagga is a section of the Vinaya Pitaka—the Buddhist monastic code—that describes in detail the birth of the women’s community and the conditions the Buddha set for their ordination.

Today, in Thailand, this lineage of bhikkhunis has disappeared. The law does not recognize their existence. Women who choose this path face many challenges and stricter tests than men (Rasdusdee, 2020). Yet their memory endures. At Wat Thep Thidaram in Bangkok, a bronze statue of Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī reminds everyone of her strength and perseverance.

Visit to Wat Thepthidaram, Bangkok

September 8, 2022

I had vaguely heard of Wat Thepthidaram, a Bangkok temple built by King Rama III for his daughter, Princess Vilasmaya, and I’d understood that it contained statues of bhikkhunīs (Kom Chad Luek, 2022). I had to go see for myself.

It is a rainy afternoon in Bangkok when I arrive at the temple. I read on a sign near an entrance that it is called “the temple of the bhikkhunīs.” The monastic complex is very large but almost empty. I search for the right hall with some difficulty. I push open a door and, inside, I discover statues of bhikkhunīs—52 figures arranged in a group around the central Buddha. Some are seated, others kneel or crouch, and only three stand to the sides. One distinct figure seems to represent Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī, the first woman ordained in Buddhism, set apart and highlighted. The statues appear to be conversing with one another even as they meditate.

I take a series of photographs. I realize that this temple shows King Rama III’s attention to the history of women in Buddhism. Closed to the public for a long time, it was only reopened after a television program sparked Thai interest in these little-known statues, helping to bring them to wider recognition (Kom Chad Luek, 2022).

The Bhikkhuni Lineage: Transmission and Disappearance

In India, after the first ordination of Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī and her disciples, the bhikkhunī lineage grows quickly. For several centuries, ordained women take full part in monastic life, following the precepts and helping to spread the Dharma (Kabilsingh, 1991).

This recognition by the Buddha himself makes Buddhism historically the first religion in the world to accept that women have the same spiritual potential as men (Dhammananda Bhikkhunī, 2020).

However, starting in the 11th century, political and social upheavals begin the decline of Buddhism in India. Invasions, conflicts, and the movement of monasteries cause the gradual disappearance of bhikkhunīs in India, while male monks continue their lineage for a few more decades before Hinduism again becomes the dominant religion (Kabilsingh, 1991).

In Sri Lanka

Buddhism arrives in Sri Lanka in the 3rd century BCE. Emperor Ashoka sends his son Mahinda to guide men into monastic life, and his daughter Sanghamittā establishes the bhikkhunī lineage. For centuries, nuns live in stable communities, passing on their knowledge and discipline. But in 1017, King Rājendra Chola, a powerful Tamil Hindu ruler, invades the island. His armies destroy cities and monasteries, and Buddhist communities are scattered. Without their abbeys and spiritual teachers, the bhikkhunīs can no longer ordain new nuns. The lineage, so vibrant for centuries, almost completely dies out (De Silva, 1981).

Thus, for nearly a thousand years, the bhikkhuni lineage endures, but eventually fades away, leaving a gap in the Theravāda tradition that will only be filled with the modern reintroduction, especially in Sri Lanka and later in Thailand.

A major turning point comes in 1996, when Sri Lanka officially restores the ordination of bhikkhunīs in the Theravāda tradition.

In Mahāyāna Buddhism, some schools have maintained the full ordination of nuns, with rules and roles that vary depending on the context. The bhikkhunī lineages have been preserved in China, Vietnam, and Korea, where women’s communities remain active and maintain their own monasteries. Even today, the history and role of bhikkhunīs reflect the diversity of Buddhist traditions regarding the ordination of women.

In Sri Lanka, in December 1996, after nearly a thousand years of interruption, the full ordination of bhikkhunīs was restored in the Theravāda tradition. The difficulty was that the Vinaya requires a double ordination: by a chapter of bhikkhus (monks) and a chapter of bhikkhunīs (nuns). However, the bhikkhunīs had disappeared from Sri Lanka since the 11th century, making the process impossible locally. To overcome this obstacle, Korean bhikkhunīs were invited to participate in the ceremony alongside the local Theravāda monks. This is how ten Sri Lankan women received full ordination, marking a historic revival, though not without debates and opposition (Jutima, 2002).

Modern ordination in Thailand

In Thailand, the situation is different. There is a legal prohibition. Since 1928, the Sangha Act (the law governing the clergy) explicitly forbids Thai monks from ordaining women. This decision was made by the Supreme Sangha Council with the support of the state. As a result, Thai women who wish to become bhikkhunīs must go abroad (often to Sri Lanka or India) to receive ordination, and their status is not officially recognized in Thailand.

Chronology of Buddhism and the Bhikkhunīs

c. 563–483 BCE – Birth of the Buddha

• Siddhartha Gautama is born in the kingdom of the Sakyas, in northern India.
• After his awakening, he begins teaching the Dharma and gathers his first male disciples, the bhikkhus.

c. 500 BCE – First female community

• Mahāprajāpati Gotamī, the Buddha’s aunt and adoptive mother, requests ordination.
• After hesitation, the Buddha agrees: the bhikkhunīs, fully ordained women, are established.
• The first female communities live in stable monasteries, following strict rules, with abbesses guiding the novices.

3rd century BCE – Transmission to Sri Lanka

• Emperor Ashoka sends his son Mahinda to introduce Buddhism to men in Sri Lanka.
• His sister Sanghamittā founds the bhikkhunī lineage, allowing local women to receive full ordination.
• To codify the Buddhist teachings on palm leaves, the Sri Lankan communities organize the Fourth Buddhist Council around 80 BCE at Aluvihara, under the patronage of King Valagambahu.
• The Sri Lankan bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs become missionaries in Southeast Asia, further spreading Theravāda Buddhism.

9th–13th centuries – Expansion in Southeast Asia

• Theravāda Buddhism gradually establishes in Burma and Thailand through Sinhalese missionaries, mainly bhikkhus.
• Monk communities grow, supported by local Mon, Tai, and Bamar kingdoms (Bagan).
• Women’s ordination varied by region and period: in some cases, bhikkhunīs were fully ordained; in others, female ordination was limited or nonexistent. Records suggest bhikkhunī communities existed in Thailand until the Ayutthaya period (14th–17th centuries). From that time, these communities disappeared, replaced by an exclusively male lineage, supported by royal power and the influence of Sinhalese monks (Tathālokā Bhikkhunī, 2015).

11th century – Decline of Buddhism in India

• Invasions by the Ghaznavids and other conquerors, the fall of protective dynasties, and the rise of Hinduism cause the gradual decline of Buddhism in India.
• Bhikkhunīs disappear completely in India, while the order of monks survives for a few more decades.

1017 – Collapse of the lineage in Sri Lanka

• King Rājendra Chola, a powerful Tamil Hindu ruler, invades Sri Lanka.
• His armies destroy cities and monasteries, dispersing the Buddhist communities.
• Bhikkhunīs, living in stable communities, are scattered.
• Without monasteries and abbesses to organize training and ordination, they can no longer transmit the lineage.
• According to strict rules, for a woman to become a bhikkhunī, she must have the approval of already ordained monks and nuns. With the destruction of monasteries and the death or flight of bhikkhunīs, the lineage almost completely disappears.

20th century – Partial revival

• The bhikkhunī lineage is restored in Sri Lanka and other Theravāda countries.
• In Southeast Asia, the presence of nuns often remains limited and informal, depending on the country.

Bibliography

Tathālokā Bhikkhunī. (2015). Glimmers of a Thai Bhikkhuni Sangha History v2.2. Gautami Samayiki, 5(2), 20–21.

Rasdusdee, P. (2020). Constructing ‘Legitimacy’: A Multimodal Case Study of Bhikkhuni Communities in Thailand [Thèse de doctorat, University of Leeds]. https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/27963/

Kom Chad Luek. (2022, janvier 5). Wat Goddess Ram : Les religieuses et leur histoire. Kom Chad Luek. https://www.komchadluek.net/news/lifestyle/130718

Dhammananda Bhikkhunī. (2020, 17 août). Woman in Buddhism [Lecture]. Life Long Learning Program, Payap University, Chiang Mai, Thaïlande.

Jutima, A. (2002, Spring). Full ordination for nuns restored in Sri Lanka. The Insight Journal. Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. https://www.buddhistinquiry.org/article/full-ordination-for-nuns-restored-in-sri-lanka/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

De Silva, K. M. (1981). The Anuradhapura period. Dans A history of Sri Lanka (Chapitre 6 « The Anuradhapura Period »). University of California Press.

Kabilsingh, C. (1991). Thai women in Buddhism. Parallax Press.

New Mandala. (2014, January 7). Time for a bhikkhuni sangha? Retrieved from https://www.newmandala.org/time-for-a-bhikkhuni-sangha/

Religion.info. (2017, January 29). Thaïlande : la controverse sur les moines femmes bouddhistes n’est pas résolue. Retrieved September 23, 2025, from https://www.religion.info/2017/01/30/thailande-controverse-sur-les-moines-femmes-bouddhistes/

This text and photos are © Frédéric Alix, 2025; the photos were taken in 2020 and 2022.

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