Dhammananda Bhikkhuni is a Thai Buddhist nun or bhikkhuni who received full ordination in Sri Lanka making her the first Thai woman to receive full ordination as a Theravada nun in the Dharmaguptaka ordination lineage. 
Today, she is abbess of Songdhammakalyani Temple, the first and only temple in Thailand with fully ordained nuns.
The Ven. Bhikkhuni Dhammananda was born on October 6, 1944 as Chatsumarn Shatsena. Her mother, Voramai, was the first Thai woman to be fully ordained as a bhikkhuni. She received her education in India and Canada, and spent 32 years teaching as an associate professor at the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Thammasat University. She was divorced with three grown sons and three grandchildren.
She transformed her life in 2000 when she received the Bodhisattva’s precept from Fo Guang Shan in Taiwan. The following year she traveled to Sri Lanka to receive her lower ordination. In 2003 she was ordained as bhikkhuni at the same place, and to further strengthen her lineage took yet another upasampada or ordination rite in 2005.
Since her ordination she has immersed herself in building a strong foundation for the better understanding of bhikkhuni ordination and of life as a Buddhist. Today, she is abbess of the only temple in Thailand with fully ordained nuns, Songdhammakalyani Temple, west of Bangkok.
The Ven. Dhammananda writes regularly both academic papers and articles for magazines, and has more than 40 books and translations to her name. Some of the better known books in English are A Comparative Study of the Bhikkhuni, Patimokkha Buddhism and Nature Conservation, Thai Women and Buddhism, Women and Buddhism and The Bhikkhuni Patimokkha of the six existing schools.
“I do not choose to be ordained because I want people to recognize me. I did it because I want to carry on the heritage of the Lord Buddha. I am trying to revive the four pillars of Buddhism—bhikkus, bhikkhunis, laymen and laywomen—that will sustain the religion into the future. I don’t mind if some people reserve different opinions about bhikkhunis. The public will be the ones to judge our worth.”
