In the second half of the 19th century, a national Buddhist revival movement began as a response to Christian missionaries and British colonialism. This movement was empowered by the results of several public debates between Christian priests and Buddhist monks such as Migettuwatte Gunananda Thera and Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thera. The big five public debates with Protestant missionaries were held in 1865 (the Baddegama and Waragoda debates), 1866 (Udanwita debate), 1871 (Gampola debate), and 1873 (Panadura debate). Topics of the debates included God, the Soul, the resurrection, Karma, Rebirth, Nirvana and the principle of dependent origination. One of these debates, the famed "Panadura debate" of 1873 was widely seen as a victory for Gunananda Thera.