The year 1956 marked 2500 years after the Mahaparinibbana of the Buddha. As it approached, there was resurgence in Buddhist activities as well as a resuscitation of national feeling and sentiment of the masses. With the mediation ofDr.Gunapala Malalesekera, the founder of the All Ceylon Buddhist Association, a commission was appointed to go Island-wide and gather information from various individuals and organizations about the forces adverse to Buddhism; so also it was duty-bound to find out what needs to be done for the protection and preservation of Buddhism. In accordance with the information thus gathered, various proposals to be put into effect by the government were set forth. For the enactment of some of those proposals, an institution named Buddhist Council was established under the auspices of the then prime minister, Sir John Kotalawala. It was entrusted with the task of translating the Tripitaka into Sinhalese and publishing it along with the Pali script. Thereat also it was devolved upon the government to compile both a Sinhala Encyclopaedia (Sinhalese) and a Buddhist Encyclopaedia (English). For the translation of the Tripitaka assistance of the learned th eras of the day were obtained.

In the general elections of 1956, the United National Party of Sir John Kotalawala got defeated and the People's United Front under the leadership of S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike came to power. Having promised to put into effect the recommendations of the Buddhist Information Commission, Hon. Mr. Bandaranaike evinced lot of interest in the Tripitaka translations.

However, it took nearly twenty five years to complete the translation. By the time the last volume came out of print, the previous volumes that had come out were finished being sold. So, most people lost the opportunity of buying the whole Tripitaka.

Although a drastic attempt was made by Ven.Wimalajothi thera for acquiring a copy of the Buddha Jayanthi Tripitaka on behalf of the BCC, it came to nothing. Meanwhile solicitations floated into the BCC asking for the Buddha Jayanthi Tripitaka. Thereabout Ven.Wimalajothi thera took steps to reprint and publish, with permission from the Cultural department, the whole Tripitaka - the Sinhalese translation together with its original Pali version. Though people are keen to read about Buddhism, the dearth ofTripitaka books irked his conscience.

Notwithstanding that BCC owned a press, in order to get the books expeditiously printed another press was also amalgamated, by paying a large sum of money, to the task of printing. The paper needed for the books were ordered from abroad.

Some of the volumes of the Tripitaka published by the aforesaid Buddhist Council were paper-bound and others Rexene-bound; but all the volumes published by the BCC were Rexene-bound red colored so as to make them durable and marked in appearance. The complete Sinhala-Pali version of the Tripitaka was printed and published within two years along with the two supplementary treatises - Petacopadesha and Netthiprakarana - the whole Tripitaka in 57 volumes.

Ven.Wimalajothi thera recounts with gratitude the assistance rendered in this connection by two learned senior permanent secretaries of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service; Mr.Amara Hewamaddhuma and Mr.B.N.Jinasena.

Rejoicing over the successful completion of a task involving heavy responsibility, Ven. Wimalajothi thought of launching the Tripitaka ceremonially by offering it to the dispensation (Sasana) and the nation. He decided to offer it initially to the Mahanayake theras representing the dispensation and to the president representing the nation. Then he phoned the presidential secretariat. A coordinating secretary of the president answered the phone call and directly linked it with President Mahinda Rajapakse. After listening to Ven.Wimalajothi thera, the president being elated said, "Ven.Sir, what you are doing is what we as a government ought to do. I have heard of the innumerable services you render. No whatsoever problem. I shall participate in the ceremony. We'll hold the ceremony honourably in the old parliament building. Bhikkhus like your reverence is a source of encouragement for us. We'll supply alms to all the bhikkhus who participate and lunch for other invitees. Please discuss with my secretary for a suitable date and time." That was a day in January 2006. March 14, 2006 dawned. The old parliament building in which the presidential secretariat was situated faced the sea majestically. The parliament building and the surrounding area which was a high security zone was aglow with Buddhist flags.

All the invitees were by and by gathering there for the launching ceremony of the Tripitaka. Among the distinguished invitees were the prime minister, some other ministers, and members of parliament, state officials, professors, local guests, mahanayaka thems and other leading bhikkhus. Among them Ven.Wimalajothi too were ambling towards the meeting hall after entering the building from the left. Suddenly a security guard coming towards him said, "Ven.Sir, please stop! Don't go, H.E. is coming." Ven.Wimalajothi stopping for a moment asked who was H.E.. The security guard replied, "The president."

That security guard had not recognised Ven.Wimalajothi them. Ven.Wimala­jothi without saying anything smiled faintly. Thereupon the president Mahinda Rajapakse coming from his official quarters saw the them and coming close to him paid his reverence. "Ven.Sir, we'll start the function at the stipulated time," so saying the president along with the Ven.Them climbed the steps to go to the place where the meeting was scheduled to take place.

Being dumbfounded, the security guard inquired from a neighbour as to who that Ven.Them was. "Why, don't you know, that's the Ven.Kimma them. This ceremony is his," replied the neighbour. The security guard got embarrassed.

The ceremony started with the president getting seated. It was a proud occasion. A copy of the Tripitaka was first offered to Ven.Kirinde Sri Dhammananda them and president Mahinda Rajapakse. Thereafter copies were also offered to Ven. Bellana Nanawimala them, Welimitiyawe Kusaladhamma them, Ven.Itthapana Dhammalankam them and Bellanwila Wimalamthane them.

Addressing the audience, the president said that with the republication of the Tripitaka a long-felt national and dispensational duty has been fulfilled. Ven.Dr. Kirinde Dhamrnananda thera also addressing the occasion said, " As Ananda thera, the treasurer of Dhamrna, had preserved the Dhamrna during the very life time of the Buddha, so is ven. Wimalajothi thera during the 20th and 21st centuries trying to preserve the Dhamma. During the Buddha's time there was neither printing nor calligraphy; therefore Dhamma had to be memorized. Today, using modem technology Dhamrna could be printed and thereby preserved. Ven.Wimalajothi thera's BCC has become the only treasury of the Dhamma not only in the East but in the whole world as well."

During this important ceremony,. something else worthy of notification also happened. All the bhikkhus who participated stood up when the national anthem was sung as the final item of the ceremony. Earlier the bhikkhus had not been accustomed to stand. It was customary for them to remain seated while chatting with each other when the national anthem was sung. It was ven. Wimalajothi thera who requested all the bhikkhus to stand when the anthem was being sung. That was setting a historical precedent.

It is apt to record here an extract from the speech of Ven.Wimalajothi. "Most Buddhists in this country have no whatsoever knowledge about the Tripitaka. There were even learned people who had not seen Tripitaka books. One day a devout Buddhist came to me and said, 'Ven.Sir, isn't this division into various Nikayas (sects) were envisaged and acknowledged by the Buddha himself? For we have heard that in the sutta pitaka itself there are five different Nikayas as Digha nikaya, Majjhima nikaya, Samyutta nikaya, Anguttara nikaya and Khuddhaka nikaya. When we were studying Buddhism at school, we memorized all the names of these Nikayas. Accordingly, isn't it innocuous to have divisions into various Nikayas nowadays as well?" Ven.Wimalajothi thera couldn't continue with the story as everyone who listened to it were driven into guffawing.

"To tell you another incident, a very popular short story writer in this country, whose name I don't like to mention, when he came to meet me, he said that he liked to read a Tripitaka. Then I informed him that that was a lofty idea and that to read and understand the Tripitaka, it would take at least 3-4 years as we call it the eighty-four thousand Dharmakkhandaya. I told him further that even to read the five Nikayas of the sutta pitaka, it would take about a year. Thereupon I showed him the thirteen volumes of the sutta pitaka which we had translated. Being flabbergasted, he placed his both hands upon his head saying that in no way could he afford to read such a large number of books. He had thought the Tripitaka to be a book akin in size to the Bible.

Such was the knowledge some Buddhists of this country had of the Tripitaka. That is why I decided to re-print the Tripitaka to provide an opportunity for them to say that they have at least seen the Tripitaka."