Abstract
The three decade of protracted civil war in Sri Lanka has direct its path today more on development and peace. Preserving its multi religious and multi ethnic serenity, religion has embedded in to Sri Lankan culture and has played a significant role in socio, political and economical sphere of every citizen. Despite of few moments the past history of the country
mostly has witnessed a general climate of tolerance and coexistence among all the religious groups. Although in the postwar phase the peace and reconciliation has been mislead and challenged by the religious extremism.
Religion as an agent of socialization shapes the human behavior and promotes tolerance.Although in the postwar phase religious tolerance within the country has been challenged due some acts of the religious extremism. Hence the core objective of this study is to identify the role of Buddhism in promoting religious tolerance in postwar society in Sri Lanka. The key areas
elucidate by the study were the perception of Buddhism in promoting Religious Tolerance, the challenges in promoting religious tolerance in postwar phase and the contribution of the religious tolerance in the postwar reconciliation process .Considering the nature of the study researcher adopted the qualitative method in collecting the data and the primary data was collected utilizing the focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were carried out with key informants. The
collected primary and secondary data have been presented and analyzed developing themes under each objective. The research was carried out to elucidate the role of Buddhism in promoting Religious Tolerance
in the postwar phase in Sri Lanka as its one powerful tool in reconciling devastated nations like Sri Lanka after experiencing 30 years of protracted war. The foundation of every religious teaching is to promote Religious Tolerance in the top of that the Buddhist teaching defines it as a path to free from violence. Today practice of Religious Tolerance has been politically and socially challenged due to Buddhists monks’ involvement in politics, acts of extreme groups,
degradation of Buddhist ethos and religious based educations system prevailing in Sri Lanka. The research was carried out aiming the application of religious tolerance in peace building process, within a nation enrich with a Buddhist culture since 3rd century. The recommendations are made in all three levels including actors of government, religious institutions and finally on community level with a uniformity in order to promote the religious tolerance which ultimately
facilitate the reconciliation and long run building peace within the nation.
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