Kelaniya is a small town near Colombo, Sri Lanka in the Gampaha District. It is known for the Buddhist temple built on the banks of the Kelani River, which runs through the town. It is also a religious center for veneration of the figure Vibhishana.

Historical and Cultural Significance

Kelaniya (''Kalyani'') is mentioned in the Buddhist chronicle, the Mahawamsa which states that the Gautama Buddha (5th century BC) visited the place, after which the dagoba of the temple was built.

The town is also of historical importance as the capital of a provincial king Kelani Tissa (1st century BC) whose daughter, Vihara Maha Devi was the mother of king Dutugemunu the great, regarded as the most illustrious of the 186 or so kings of Sri Lanka between the 5th century BC and 1815.

Sri Lankan Buddhists believe that the Buddha visited Kelaniya in order to quell a quarrel between two Nāga leaders of two warring factions: Chulodara (literally "the small-bellied one") and Mahodara (literally "the big-bellied one"). They were quarrelling over a jewel-encrusted throne. After the Buddha showed them the futility of their quarrel they converted to Buddhism and together offered the throne to the Buddha. It is believed that the Dagoba (pagoda or Buddhist temple) seen today was built with the throne as a relic inside.

In about the 15th century, Kelaniya was described in the Sandesa Kavyas (missive poems) as a beautiful city. In the ''sælalihini sandesaya'' of Totagamuwe Sri Rahula, a Myna is ordered to carry the missive to the god Vibhishana at his temple in Kelaniya. According to the ''Ravana Katha'' of Wickramasinghe Adigar, after the defeat of Ravana, Vibhishana transferred the Yaksha capital from Alakamandawa to Kelaniya. Vibhishana continues to be worshipped by a diminishing number of adherents, mainly in the Kelaniya area.

It was destroyed by the Portuguese and then rebuilt under King Rajasinha in the 1800's

Of late the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara has become famous because of the beautiful paintings and sculpture by Solias Mendis depicting various events in the history of Sri Lanka. Thousands of Buddhists come to see the Buddhist pageant of Kelaniya, popularly referred to as Duruthu Maha Perahera of Kelaniya in the month of November/December and January every year.

Transport

The A1 highway connecting Colombo with Kandy runs along the town. The Kelaniya Railway Station is located close to the Colombo Kandy Road and provides rail connections with the rest of the country.

Education

The University of Kelaniya is situated at Kelaniya near the Colombo-Kandy Road. Also there is one of the popular School in island which was named as Sri Dharmaloka College.

References

External links

Entry at Lanka Info

Category:Gampaha District Category:Populated places in Western Province, Sri Lanka

si:කැලණිය

Name	University of Kelaniya
Image name	Kelaniya.png
Established	1959
Type	Public
Staff	771 academic, 637 non-academic
Vice chancellor	Prof. Sarath Amunugama, JP
City	Kelaniya
Country	Sri Lanka
Campus	Suburban
Website	http://www.kln.ac.lk
Logo	}}

The University of Kelaniya is a state university of Sri Lanka. Situated just outside the municipal limits of Colombo, in the ancient and historic city of Kelaniya, the University has two major campuses, seven locations, six faculties and four institutions.

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 Solomon Dias 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''.

Faculties

Faculty Of Science

The Faculty of Science started functioning in October 1967 with Prof. Charles Dahanayake as the Dean of Science. The intake of the first batch of students was 57. Formal approval for the Faculty was given by the Minister of Education in 1968.

The faculty was housed in the main building known as the “Science Block”. Due to the continued increase in the student intake from year to year, a new Lecture Theatre Complex and an Auditorium were constructed in 1992, which enabled the intake of students to be increased to 450 in 2003. A new laboratory complex for the Chemistry Department and three buildings for the Departments for Industrial Management, Microbiology and Zoology have now been completed.

The faculty was the first among the Sri Lankan Universities to initiate the change over from the traditional three subject (General) degree with end of year examinations to a more flexible Course Unit System, i.e. a modularized credit based system within a two-semester academic year with the end of semester examinations. It offers a variety of course pathways designed to provide flexibility in the choice of subjects. Under this system students have the option of reading for a traditional three subject degree or for a degree consisting of two principal subjects and a selection of course units drawn from other subject areas. The B.Sc. (Special) degree courses, begun in 1974, adopted the course unit system in 1986.

The faculty consists of eight departments:

Department of Botany

Department of Chemistry

Department of Industrial management

Department of Mathematics

Department of Microbiology

Department of Physics,

Department of Statistics and Computer Science

Department of Zoology

Department of Industrial Management

It focuses on a degree of MIT which gives knowledge of Management and Information Technology. Also the department is offering masters degrees which focuses on the same area.

You can find more information at: http://www.mit.kln.ac.lk/Industrial/

Faculty Of Medicine

The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Kelaniya is situated in a campus at Ragama. It is one of six medical schools in Sri Lanka. The faculty began classes with the admission of 120 students in September 1991. Before that it was called the North colombo medical college (NCMC). The NCMC, the first privately funded medical school in Sri Lanka started in 1980 with the admission of 100 local and 20 foreign students, who started graduating in 1990. Dr. Heenilame was its first Chairman and Dr. W.D. Ratnavelle, its first Director. The first batch of students, under the new name, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya completed their five year course and graduated MBBS in September 1996. Prof. Carlo Fonseka was the first dean in the renamed medical school.

The faculty has over 1000 students on its roll. This number includes foreign students, mainly from other South Asian countries, who have been admitted on a fee levying basis. The faculty also welcomes students for elective appointments. Students from medical schools in Europe, USA and Australia have spent their elective periods with the university.

There is a permanent academic staff of over 90 and in addition 40 temporary academic staff and over 60 visiting staff that includes consultants who are based in the affiliated teaching hospitals.

Faculty Of Social Science

The faculty of social sciences, in terms of student population, is the largest faculty in the University of Kelaniya.

You can Find More Information at: http://www.kln.ac.lk/social/social/social.htm

Department of Library and Information Science

Faculty Of Humanities

The faculty includes disciplines associated with Buddhist and Asian cultures, such as Pali and Buddhist Studies, Sinhala, Tamil, Sanskrit, Hindi, Japanese and Chinese, while teaching courses in modern European languages such as English, French, German and Russian.

;Departments in the Faculty of Humanities

Department of Linguistics

Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies

Department of Sinhala

Department of Hindi

Department of Modern Languages

Department of Sanskrit

Department of Fine Art

Department of Western Classical Culture and Christian Culture

Department of English

English Language Teaching Unit

ry Science

Mass Communication

Philosophy

Sociology

Faculty Of Commerce and Management

The faculty consists of four departments:

Department of Accountancy

Department of Marketing Management

Department of Marketing Management - The department was established in 2002 as a unit and obtained its departmental status in 2007. Now it has more than 300 students.

Department of Human Resource Management

Department of Commerce

Faculty Of Graduate Studies

Twenty three postgraduate degree programmes and six postgraduate diploma programmes are coordinated by the Faculty of Graduates Studies.

Postgraduate Diplomas

Postgraduate Diploma in Regional Planning

Postgraduate Diploma in Information Technology

Postgraduate Diploma in Industrial and Business Management

Postgraduate Diploma in Environmental Management

Postgraduate Diploma in Mathematics

Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resource Management

Postgraduate Degrees

M.A. in Sinhala

M.A. in Linguistics

M.A. in Drama and Theatre

M. S. Sc. in Mass Communication

M. S. Sc. in Sociology

M. S. Sc. in Geography

M. S. Sc. in Library Science

M. S. Sc. in Economics

M. S. Sc. in Political Science

M. S. Sc. in History

M. S. Sc. in Philosophy

M. Sc. in Applied Microbiology

M. Sc. in Food and Nutrition

M. Sc. in Aquaculture and Fisheries Management

M. Sc. in Biodiversity and Integrated Environmental Management

M. Sc. in Industrial and Environment Chemistry

M. Sc. in Management and Information Technology

M. Sc. in Computer Science

Master of Commerce

Master of Business Management

Master of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Medicine

Affiliated institutes

Post Graduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies

Post Graduate Institute of Archaeology

Gampaha Wikramarachchi Ayurveda Institute

Services

ICT Centre

Information and Communication Technology Centre

The ICT Centre provides support services in IT related teaching, research, internet services, staff development and hardware maintenance for the entire university. It conducts computer literacy course open for all students and advanced courses in Visual Basic, web designing and hardware technology for the students who have successfully completed the computer literacy course. On-the-job training in the IT arena is provided for the young people just out of the university who work in the ICT Centre.

The maintenance unit provides network, hardware and software support to the clients within the university, and IT solutions for academic departments and administrative branches of the university. Video filming of special events of the university since 2005 is an additional service.

Centre for Enterprise Management Information Service

English Language Teaching Unit

Library

Department of Physical Education

Staff Development Unit

Career Guidance Unit

http://www.mit.kln.ac.lk/Industrial/index.htm

Historically Related Institutions

The Vidyodaya University was created at the same time as the Vidyalankara University. Today Vidyodaya University is known as the University of Sri Jayewardenepura

External links

Official website

University of Kelaniya in Sinhala

External Examination Branch

Academic Officers of the university

Enrolment and graduate output 1995 - 2004 for all the universities in Sri Lanka

University grants Commission of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka University Games 2007

References

University of Jayewardenepura

Category:Universities in Sri Lanka Category:Educational institutions established in 1959 Category:Association of Commonwealth Universities Category:Buildings and structures in Western Province, Sri Lanka * Category:Statutory Boards of Sri Lanka

si:කැළණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය ta:களனி பல்கலைக்கழகம்