Siri Vajiraramaya is arguably the best known Sri Lankan Buddhist temple throughout the world due to the renowned resident monks who spread the teaching of the Buddha worldwide. Ven Narada and Ven Piyadassi were household names in many parts of the world.

The temple in the heart of the capital city of Colombo was founded in 1901 by the erudite monk from South Sri Lanka, the Most Venerable Pelene Siri Vajirajana Maha Nayaka Thera. It has been declared a Sacred Site by the State on 6 September 2009.

In addition to educated youth and prominent personalities in Sri Lanka, several foreign students of Buddhism too sought the refuge of the scholarly monk to embrace the religion moving away from their faith.

Ven Nanamoli best known for his translation of ‘Visuddhi Magga’ (The Path of Purification), ‘Majjhima Nikaya” and more from Pali to English, and Ven Gnanavira also well versed in the Dhamma with several articles to his credit were among them.

The Daham Pasala where weekly Buddhist classes were held for the benefit of children on Sundays moulded the young ones to a Buddhist way of life while imparting the knowledge of the Dhamma continuously for over a century. Many are the innovative methods adopted by the Siri Vajiramaya to spread the word of the Buddha. The tradition continues.