Introduction

In order to upgrade the welfare of teachers and students, the International Buddhist College will build a female hostel consisting of a Buddhist shrine and 20 rooms to facilitate better accommodation for them.

The teacher's suite will have an attached kitchenette to provide more comfortable living space.

Mahapajapati Gotami

Mahapajapati Gotami, the Buddha's aunt cum adoptive mother, is the first woman to renounce in the Buddha’s monastic order.

In the fifth year of the Buddha's enlightenment, Mahapajapati Gotami led 500 women from the Shakya clan to seek the Buddha’s approval for women to be ordained into the Sangha. The Buddha did not agree initially. After her requests were declined three times by the Buddha she repented and vowed to cut off all feminine shortcomings for the sake of getting entry into the Sangha.

Finally, the Buddha set a precedent by accepting her and other women into the monastic order.
After she became a nun, Mahapajapati practised earnestly and established the feminine connection with the Buddha’s teaching.