Kathmandu, June 30:

The Buddhist community of Nepal today celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Nepal-Sri Lanka bilateral relations.

Addressing a function organised at Anandakuti Bihar here, chairman of Nepal Bikkhu Association Kumar Kashyap said that the bilateral relations between Nepal and Sri Lanka date back to over 2,500 years ago. Monks of Sri Lanka had played a vital role when some Nepali Buddhist monks were forced to leave Nepal for disseminating Buddhism during the Rana regime. In 1946, some Sri Lankan Buddhist monks led by Bikkhu Narada visited Nepal and started diplomatic talks with the government to let the exiled monks return to Nepal, leading to the revival of Theravada Buddhism. A book titled Buddhism in Sri Lanka and its relation with Nepal written by Hiranya Lal Shrestha was released.