Ven. Shaddhammaditya Jnanashree Mahathera was born in 1925 at Uttar Gujra Domekhali village in Raozan Upazila of Chittagong District. He is now the Deputy Head of the Sangha in Bangladesh. At present he lives in Nandankanon Bouddha Vihar in Chittagong. He entered the Sangha as a novice in 1944. In 1949 he was ordained as a monk. He completed entrance level of education. In 1958 he came to the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) from Chittagong. Following the construction of the Kaptai Hydroelectric Dam in 1961, he moved to Dighinala (now under Khagrachari Hill District).
When he came here, he was struck by seeing the very deplorable social, economic and religious condition of the people there. Under these circumstances, he could not confine himself to religious pursuit only. He thought of engaging community people to spread education along with religious education. He took a step to set up Parbatya Chattal Bouddha Anath Ashram (CHT Buddhist Orphanage) in 1963 (now this institution is defunct due to conflict situation). First he started giving shelter and education to the orphaned and destitute children in this institution. Under his guidance and overall support Moanoghar was established in Rangapani of Rangamati in 1974.
Over the years, Moanoghar now has turned into one of the most desired educational institutions for indigenous children in CHT. It provides free or highly subsidized education to the orphaned and poor children from all over the CHT region. Beyond the CHT region, Ven. Jnanashree Mahathera also established many educational institutions in Chittagong, Joypurhat and Rangpur in the plain region of Bangladesh.