The 13 O/L Buddhism Paper I papers we have contain 24 questions on the Dhamma councils (ධර්ම සංගායනා), in 11 of the 13 sittings, and 8 of them are marked hard. Of these, 7 ask which point is NOT a result of the second or third council. 5 ask which bhanaka line was given which nikaya after the first council. Learn the results council by council and most of these answer themselves.
This page is Paper I (MCQ) only. Paper II is not included. The counts are the questions tagged ධර්ම සංගායනා. That is 24 of the 500 questions we hold.
Council questions, year by year
The table runs from 2013 to 2025. The year links to its own page. A year that does not list the topic shows 0.
The most in one paper is 4, in 2013 and 2021. These papers have none: 2014 and 2023.
By number of questions, the councils are 5th among the Buddhism topics.
The councils in one table
Every fact in the table comes from the answer reasons written for these questions in the Wizder app. The questions and their answers stay in the app. Where no reason gives a fact, the cell says so.
| Council | Place | King | Leading thera | Cause | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First council | Rajagaha, the Sattapanni cave | King Ajatasattu | Mahakassapa thera | Subhadda's words after the parinibbana |
|
| Second council | Vesali (Visala), the Valukarama, 100 years after the parinibbana | King Kalasoka | Yasa Kakandakaputta or Sabbakami thera (two answer reasons give two names) | The ten points put forward by the Vajjiputtaka monks |
|
| Third council | Pataliputra, the Asokarama | King Dharmasoka | Moggaliputta Tissa thera | Not in the answer reasons |
|
| Aluvihara council (Theravada fourth) | Matale, Aluvihara (also written Aloka Vihara) | King Valagamba | Not in the answer reasons | After the Bamini Tiya famine fewer monks knew the Dhamma by heart; invasions; some monks drifting from practice |
|
| Kanishka's council (Sarvastivada fourth, not Theravada) | Kashmir, the Kundalavana | King Kanishka | Parshva thera is linked with it | Not in the answer reasons |
|
Two of our answer reasons give different names for the thera who led the second council. One names Yasa Kakandakaputta (යස කාකණ්ඩකපුත්ත හිමි), the other Sabbakami (සබ්බකාමී තෙරුන්). The table shows both.
One reason calls the Aluvihara site අලුවිහාරය, another ආලෝක විහාරය. Both are the same place in Matale.
The numbering depends on the tradition. Aluvihara is the Theravada fourth council. Kanishka's council is the fourth in the Sarvastivada tradition, and it is not Theravada.
A public question on the third council
This question is already public on the 2023 O/L Buddhism paper page. It is tagged ශාසන ඉතිහාසය, so it is not one of the 24 counted here. The answer and the reason are under the question.
තෙවන ධර්ම සංගායනාවේ ප්‍රතිඵලයක් ලෙස නව රට සසුන පිහිටුවීමේදී ඒ ඒ ප්‍රදේශවලට යොමු කරන ලද ධර්ම දූතයන් වහන්සේ හා උන්වහන්සේ වැඩම කළ ප්‍රදේශය නිවැරදිව සඳහන් වරණය තෝරන්න.
- Aමහාදේව හිමි - හිමවන්ත ප්‍රදේශය
- Bමජ්ඣිම හිමි - යෝනක රට්ඨය
- Cරක්ඛිත හිමි - වනවාසී දේශය
- Dමහා රක්ඛිත හිමි - අපරාන්ත දේශය
The "NOT a result" questions
7 questions ask which point is NOT a result of a council: 4 about the second council and 3 about the third.
In every one, the odd point out is a real result of a different council. Know the results council by council and these answer themselves.
The results these questions mix up:
- Giving the Dhamma and Vinaya to bhanaka lines: a result of the first council. Set 3 times as the point that is NOT a result of the second and third councils.
- Expelling immoral monks: a result of the third council. Set once as the point that is NOT a result of the second council.
- The missions to nine lands: a result of the third council. Set once as the point that is NOT a result of the second council.
- Gathering the Dhamma into nikayas: a result of the first council. Set once as the point that is NOT a result of the second council.
- Rejecting the ten points: a result of the second council. Set once as the point that is NOT a result of the third council.
Which nikaya went to which bhanaka line
5 questions ask which line of reciters (bhanaka) was given which part of the teaching to keep by heart after the first council. 4 of them are rated hard. The answer reasons give these:
- Digha Nikaya: Ananda thera's line
- Majjhima Nikaya: Sariputta thera's pupils
- Samyutta Nikaya: Mahakassapa thera's line
- Anguttara Nikaya: Anuruddha thera's line
- Khuddaka Nikaya: not one line but all the monks
- The Vinaya Pitaka: Upali thera's pupils
The council that isn't Theravada
3 questions ask about the council held in Kashmir under King Kanishka. 2 of them are rated hard.
By the answer reasons, the Vibhasha commentaries were compiled at that council. It belongs to the Sarvastivada tradition. Do not mix it up with Aluvihara, the Theravada fourth council.
The hard ones
8 of the 24 council questions are rated hard. Of the 5 topics with the most questions, none has a bigger share rated hard. The table splits them by what they ask.
| What it asks | Questions | Rated hard |
|---|---|---|
| Which point is NOT a result | 7 | 1 |
| Which nikaya went to which bhanaka line | 5 | 4 |
| Kanishka's council and the Vibhasha | 3 | 2 |
| The Aluvihara council | 3 | 1 |
| Place, king, leading thera or name | 4 | 0 |
| Why the first council was held | 1 | 0 |
| What a council is | 1 | 0 |
The other hard topics are in the hardest O/L Buddhism MCQ topics.
How to practise before 8 December 2026
Learn the councils table first. Then test yourself both ways: from the council, say the results; from a result, say the council.
All 24 questions tagged as the councils are in the journey. The journey starts at the beginning. Topic-only practice is not possible. Practise in the O/L Buddhism journey.
The weeks up to the exam are in the 8-week plan. The short note on the councils is in the short notes.
The 2026 O/L Buddhism paper is on Tuesday, 8 December 2026. It is held as Papers I and II together, 08:30 – 11:40. That date and time are the Department of Examinations time table, issued on 6 October 2026. The official copy is on doenets.lk. The day is written up in the paper-day guide.
Another topic page: the Buddha's life in past papers.
What this page is not
Not a full history of the Sasana. It covers the 5 councils above and only what Paper I asked. Later councils are not covered.
Not a prediction about the 2026 paper. There is no PDF.
You cannot practise a single year on its own, and you cannot practise a single topic on its own. The app starts the Buddhism journey from the beginning.
Paper I (MCQ) only. Paper II is not included. English medium is not here. The questions are the Sinhala-medium paper.
Wizder is not affiliated with the Department of Examinations. Every sitting is on the O/L Buddhism past papers page.
One more, to try yourself
බුදුරජාණන් වහන්සේ මහා මොග්ගල්ලාන සූත්‍රය දේශනා කළේ කුමන ස්ථානයේදී ද?
- Aවිශාලා මහනුවර වන පියසකදී
- Bගග්ගරා පොකුණ සමීපයේදී
- Cකලන්දක නිවාප නම් ස්ථානයේදී
- Dමහී ගංගා තීරය අසලදී
Common questions
How many questions on the Dhamma councils are in the O/L Buddhism Paper I?
24 in the 13 papers we have, in 11 of the 13 sittings, 1 to 4 a year.
Which council will be asked in 2026?
Nobody can say. Some patterns came back in many papers, but that's no guarantee for 2026.
Is there a PDF of Dhamma council short notes?
No. Wizder has no PDFs. This page has the councils table and the patterns from the past papers.
Where can I practise these questions with answers?
All 24 are in the Wizder app's Buddhism journey, with answers and reasons, free.
Can I practise only council questions?
No. The app starts the Buddhism journey from the beginning and covers every paper from 2013 to 2025, so topic-only practice isn't possible.