Soon after their return to the island they established a udakhupkhepa sima (a flotilla of boats moved together to form a platform on the water) on the Maduganga river, Balapitiya and, under the most senior Burmese monk who accompanied them, held an upasampada ceremony on Vesak Full Moon Day.
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In 1799, Ambagahapitiye Gnanavimala Thera a monk from the Salagama caste, from Balapitiya on the south western coast of Sri Lanka, departed for Burma with a group of novices to seek a new succession of Higher ordination.
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It says that thirty two ‘senior’ members of the Sangha who opposed this change were banished to Jaffna by the leaders of the reform.
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The first bhikkhu was ordained in Burma in 1800 by the sangharaja of Burma in Amarapura, his party having been welcomed to Burma by King Bodawpaya.
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The community was traditionally associated with the cultivation and management of cinnamon, and also as soldiers,and are found mostly in Southern coastal areas, especially in the villages around Rathgama (Rajgama), Boossa and Balapitiya in Galle district.