Government of Sri Lanka

The Government of Sri Lanka (previously the Government of Ceylon) served as the official publisher of the Encyclopaedia of Buddhism, the landmark multivolume reference work initiated in 1955–1956 under the auspices of the Laṅkā Bauddha Maṇḍalaya (Buddhist Council of Ceylon) and subsequently transferred to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. The project was sponsored by the government of Ceylon in commemoration of the twenty-five hundred years of Buddhism and commenced in 1956. It was initiated as one of several undertakings connected with the celebration of Buddha Jayanti, the 2500th anniversary of the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, and was planned to contain all key terms pertaining to Buddhism covering all schools and sects, their teachings, literature, culture, history, arts, archaeology and related issues. Earlier fascicles were published under the name Government of Ceylon, with later fascicles appearing under Government of Sri Lanka following the country's change of name in 1972.