<Ul> <Li> Sinhala </Li> <Li> Tamil </Li> </Ul> <P> Theravada Buddhism is the religion of 70.2% of the population of Sri Lanka . The island has been a center of Buddhist scholarship and learning since the introduction of Buddhism in the third century BCE producing eminent scholars such as Buddhaghosa and preserving the vast Pāli Canon . Throughout most of its history, Sinhalese kings have played a major role in the maintenance and revival of the Buddhist institutions of the island . During the 19th century, a modern Buddhist revival took place on the island which promoted Buddhist education and learning . There are around 6,000 Buddhist monasteries on Sri Lanka with approximately 15,000 monks . </P> <P> According to traditional Sri Lankan chronicles such as the Dipavamsa, Buddhism was introduced into Sri Lanka in the third century BCE after the Third Buddhist council by Mahinda Bhikkhu, son of Emperor Ashoka, during the reign of Devanampiya Tissa of Anuradhapura . During this time, a sapling of the Bodhi Tree was brought to Sri Lanka and the first monasteries and Buddhist monuments were established . Among these, the Isurumuniya and the Vessagiri remain important centers of worship . He is also credited with the construction of the Pathamaka cetiya, the Jambukola vihāra and the Hatthālhaka vihāra and the refectory . The Pali Canon, having previously been preserved as an oral tradition, was first committed to writing in Sri Lanka around 30 BCE . </P> <P> Mahavamsa § 29 records that during the rule of the Greco - Bactrian King Menander I, a Yona head monk named Mahadharmaraksita led 30,000 Buddhist monks from "the Greek city of Alasandra" (v, around 150 kilometres (93 mi) north of modern Kabul, Afghanistan) to Sri Lanka for the dedication of the Ruwanwelisaya in Anuradhapura, indicating that Greco - Buddhism contributed to early Sri Lankan Buddhism . See also the Milinda Panha . </P>

Who was responsible for spread of buddhism in sri lanka