Sir Oliver Goonetilake, the Governor-General appointed a Buddha Sasana Commission on March 4, 1957 under the chairmanship of Ven.
The pagoda was built to commemorate the convening of the First Congregation of All Orders for the Purification, Perpetuation and Propagation of Sasana in 1980, which formed the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, a governmental regulatory body of Buddhist monks.