Author: Ann MacArthur
Date: 6 November 2025
Introduction to SuttaCentral’s Pirivena Project
Bhante Sujato’s SuttaCentral initiative has achieved a major milestone this year in presenting 1,000 sets of English translations of the Tripitaka (covering 28,000 volumes of Sutta and Vinaya Pitaka) to educational institutions in Sri Lanka. The collaborative effort with the Division of Piriven Education in Sri Lanka was in support of enhancing the learning environment for young monastics, ensuring they receive the knowledge and guidance needed to uphold and spread the Dhamma. Nearly 600 individuals contributed to this project over two years of dedicated effort.
The story of the Pirivena Project
In May and June Bhante Sujato set out on a Dhamma journey, or yatra, in Sri Lanka to personally hand over the books. He covered 23 locations across the country targeting pirivenas – institutions for educating Buddhist monastics – as well as seelamatha training centres, universities, and special libraries.
The main ceremony to launch the distribution of the English-translated Tipiṭaka books was held on 19 May 2025 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall in Colombo. The event was graced by the participation of the leaders, or Mahanayaka Theras of the three main sects (nikayas) along with many other distinguished guests.
In the following few weeks gatherings took place at each institution with leading sangha from all nikayas, students, teachers, and supporters, including government officials. In all locations, without exception, Bhante Sujato and SuttaCentral Development Trust representatives Deepika Weerakorn and Radha Krishnan were welcomed with traditional processions featuring drummers and dancers — a heartfelt expression of appreciation. It was a powerful display of unity, friendship, gratitude, and respect. For many of these institutions, it was the first time they had received the Dhamma in such a form, and they assured the delegation that the texts would be well used and benefit many generations to come.
In a most inspiring outcome at the closing ceremony Venerable Kotenaluwe Punnānanda Thera, Royal Pandit and Chief Organiser, committed to train at least 100 young monastics within the next three years to deliver Dhamma sermons in English and continue the work of spreading the Dhamma globally.
The significance of the project
In a congratulatory message Venerable Bhikku Bodhi, president of Buddhist Association of the United States, offered a congratulatory message which conveys the significance of the project: “Over the past two decades, SuttaCentral has been making available to countless people around the world the entire Pali Canon, with parallel texts from other traditions and translations by multiple translators. This has been a majestic contribution to the Buddha Sasana and a generous gift to all those seeking access to the texts of Early Buddhism, whether Buddhist practitioners, scholars, university students, or the merely curious. Since the long life of the Buddha’s Teaching depends on the preservation and propagation of the sacred scriptures, SuttaCentral has been playing a major role in facilitating the achievement of that goal.
What’s next for the project
Now, SuttaCentral is about to take another giant step forward by donating the entire collection of Sutta and Vinaya translations—respectively by Bhante Sujato and Ajahn Brahmali— to all the pirivenas in Sri Lanka. This is truly remarkable. Since it was in Sri Lanka that the Pali Canon was first committed to writing, this gift can be seen as a way of thanking Sri Lanka’s institutions of Buddhist learning for the service Sri Lanka has rendered the world by preserving the scriptural heritage of Early Buddhism. I hope that the students at the pirivenas receiving this gift will dive deep into the study of the texts and thereby deepen their faith, insight, and wisdom.
To learn more about the project, you can visit the website of SuttaCentral.