History
The University of Kelaniya has its origin in the historic Vidyalankara Pirivena, founded in 1875 as a centre of learning for Buddhist monks. It was one of the two great national centres of Buddhist higher education.
In 1956, following a change of government with S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike as the Prime Minister, following the policy of promoting national languages and culture, it was decided to establish two new universities, by conferring university status on the Vidyodaya Pirivena and Vidyalankara Pirivena. Accordingly the Vidyodaya University and Vidyalankara University Act No 45 of 1958, established the two universities at the Vidyodyaya Pirivena at Maligakanda and the Vidyalankara Pirivena at Kelaniya. As such the Vidyalankara Pirivena was renamed as the Vidyalankara University in 1959, later it became the Vidyalankara Campus of the University of Ceylon in 1972 by the University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972 and, was renamed as the University of Kelaniya in 1978 by the Universities Act No. 16 of 1978.
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