It was established in 1959 as the Vidyalankara University of Sri Lanka and was the successor of Vidyalankara Pirivena, established in 1875, which was one of the highly reputed tertiary education institutes committed to monastic education.

As such, the University of Kelaniya is one of the oldest institutes of higher education in Sri Lanka. Although only few subject areas such as Languages, Geography, Buddhist Studies, Philosophy, and Economics were taught at the beginning, today the University of Kelaniya teaches more than 60 subjects and consists of 6 Faculties with 44 academic departments. It caters to about 8,000 internal students and around 30,000 external degree students. The staff consists of about 600 academics and 650 non-academic staff members.

The University of Kelaniya is committed to provide high quality education and to conduct high impact research which will contribute significantly to the enhancement of existing knowledge in various fields.

Vision To become a centre of excellence in creation and dissemination of knowledge for sustainable development.

MissionTo nurture intellectual citizens through creativity and innovation, who contribute to the national development.

FACULTIES

• Science

• Commerce & Management

• Computing and Technology

• Graduate Studies

• Humanities

• Medicine

• Social Science            

 

 

HISTORY-University Of Kelaniya

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 traditional higher learning, heralding the first phase of the national movement and national resurgence.

With the establishment of modern Universities in Sri Lanka in the 1940s and 1950s, the Vidyalankara Pirivena became the Vidyalankara University in 1959, later the Vidyalankara Campus of the University of Ceylon in 1972 and, ultimately, the University of Kelaniya in 1978.Today, the University of Kelaniya is one of the major national Universities. It is located just outside the municipal limits of Colombo, in the ancient and historic city of Kelaniya, on the north bank of the Kelani River. It has two major campuses, seven locations, six faculties and four institutions.