In view of the necessity of providing global knowledge in the indigenous language, The Government of Sri Lanka recognized the need of compiling an Encyclopedia in Sinhala and commenced the Sinhala Encyclopedia Project in 1955 as a project to mark the Buddha Jayanthi year 2500. Hettiarachchi, Professor of Sinhala, University of Ceylon. This project had completed fifty years by the year 2005. As men
tioned in its inauguration note, this project had been planned to cover an extensive range of subjects including Physics, Chemistry, Zoology, Botany, Political Science, Geography, Sociology, Archaeology, Western literature, Ayurved (Indigenous Medicine), Eastern and Western History, Biography, Arts and Crafts, Law, Commerce etc. At the inception it was planned to complete the work in 15 Volumes of 750 pages each. In this connection, Encyclopedia Britanica, was used as a model to plan this work. Although it was so expected in 1955, as large number of new subjects has been added to the present knowledge resources it is obvious that the number of 15 volumes has to be exceeded. It is now expected to complete the Encyclopedia in 20 Volumes. This is the official fb page for the online version of Sinhala Encyclopedia web site.
