Established in February 2009 on a picturesque 27-acre stretch of land at Kundasale in Pallekele, eight kilometers from the city of Kandy, the Sri Lanka International Buddhist Academy (SIBA) provides education and promotes training for monastics and interested laypeople, regardless of religious background or ethnicity, in Sri Lanka and abroad. It is an ideal place for the academic pursuit of Buddhism in a quiet and peaceful environment, equipped with up-to-date facilities and staffed by qualified academics.

SIBA’s mission is based on the Buddhist principles of producing local, national, and international religious, social, and political leaders. Interwoven into this model of public service is the education and shaping of leaders into Dhamma practitioners and propagators. As it says on its website, SIBA aims “to be a leading International Buddhist University of Buddhist learning providing guidance to leadership based on the development of wisdom and inculcation of moral values.” On 28 March, thanks to its solid academic performance, SIBA was listed on the website of the Commonwealth Universities Yearbook, which is published by the Association of Commonwealth Universities.

SIBA initially began as an institute of higher education of the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic (also known as Sri Dalada Maligawa), one of the most famous Buddhist temples in Kandy. The basic objective was to award a degree in Buddhist leadership in affiliation with Thailand’s Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University (MCU), alongside several other diplomas. Today, SIBA confers degrees such as postgraduate awards in Buddhist studies, a BA Special in Buddhist leadership, BA Special in Pali, BA general degree, BSc in information Technology and BTech (IT and Communication), and diplomas in Pali, Sanskrit, Buddhist counselling, Dhamma-Duta work, and Buddhism and social work. Sri Lankan students can study for a BA in Buddhist leadership tuition-free.

Dr. G. A. Somaratne, assistant professor of Buddhist studies at the University of Hong Kong’s (HKU) Centre of Buddhist Studies, served as rector of SIBA in 2010–12. He says SIBA’s main purpose is to educate lay and monastic students in Buddhist studies in English. Before SIBA, he noted, there were no institutions fully dedicated to teaching Buddhist studies programs in English to both monastics and the laity in Sri Lanka. The Hon. Pradeep Nialanga Dela, chief custodian of the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic then came up with the idea of establishing this new institution to do exactly that. In his proposal for the establishment of SIBA, Prof. Somaratne had conceptualized an institution where the fourfold sangha—monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen—could not only gain knowledge of Buddhism in English but also develop leadership, communication, and language skills to serve the world while promoting Buddhist studies and propagating Buddhism.

Prof. Somaratne said that when designing SIBA he was inspired by renowned scholars and administrators in Sri Lanka and abroad, including those he met at Northwestern University in the US, Britain’s University of Oxford, Miyazaki International College in Japan, and the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka. With these inspirations and experiences, he designed SIBA as an institution with a progressive, cosmopolitan, and international spirit. He views Buddhism as a path of self-cultivation and realization that can be utilized for developing Buddhist leaders and educators to apply Buddhist insights and bring peace and prosperity to the world.