105th commemoration of Ven. Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thero , founder of the university was held on 29th April 2016 at Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce. Guest speaker for the function was Prof. Daya Edirisinghe. Vice chancellor, Prof. Sampath Amaratunge ,academic and non academic staff members were present at the occasion.
Ven. Hikkaduwe Sumangala Thero was one of the pioneers of Sri Lankan Buddhist revivalist movement in the 19th century.He did a great service to improve the Buddhist Education in the country and was the founder of Vidyodaya Piriwena, Maligakanda in 1873 which was granted the university status later in 1959 by the Government of Sri Lanka as University of Sri Jayewardenepura. A veteran author and a fiery orator, he was a major figure in the Paanadurawadaya, a religious debate held between Christian missionaries and Buddhist monks in 1873 at Panadura, Sri Lanka.
