The Cambodian Library, founded in 1921 by King Sisowath and subsequently renamed the Royal Library, was the foundation on which the Buddhist Institute was established in 1931. The main objective of establishing a Buddhist Institute, the ‘Native Institute of Theravada Buddhist Studies’ as it was then called, was to study Buddhism as practised in Cambodia, Laos and Cochinchina (now southern Việt Nam). The Institute was at that time the first and only centre of research and learning in Cambodia. It featured its own specialised library and a small ethnological museum containing religious and ethnographic objects. It also issued the monthly Kambuja Surya Magazine (first issue published 1926) and incorporated two research commissions – The Mores and Customs Commission, established in 1934, which collected information in the field and published its findings in Kambuja Surya Magazine; and the famous Tripitaka Commission, already established in 1929, which accomplished the task of translating the whole body of Therevada Buddhist scriptures from Pali into Khmer. With the war in the 1970s the Institute ceased to exist. However, in 1992 it was re-established by the Ministry of Cults and Religious Affairs, initially in the premises of Wat Ounalom. Here, with the support of the Japan Sotoshu Relief Committee (JSRC) and the Heinrich Boell Foundation (HBF) of Germany, the Institute reopened its library and relaunched its research activities and publication programme. Construction of the new building on the banks of the Mekong River – donated by the Rissho Kosei-Kai (RKK) of Japan – was completed in 1998, and the Buddhist Institute ceremoniously opened to the public in late May of that year. Today the Institute seeks to resume and maintain its former status as a national centre for learning, research, documentation and dissemination of knowledge, as well as a forum for national, regional and international dialogue and discussion on issues relating to Buddhism and Cambodian culture. Conferences and seminars, public lectures and workshops, gatherings and conventions – independently organised or in collaboration with other institutions – are expected to result in exchange of ideas and research. Research results should furthermore help to develop public understanding of Cambodian culture, and thereby contribute to the preservation of Cambodian identity after many decades of alienation. Current research activities include the Tripitaka Commission – translations from Pali into Khmer; Mores and Customs Commission – field research into Khmer traditions, pagoda surveys; Audio-visual Team – field research video/photo documentation and music recording; and the establishment of a Translation Commission to translate essential works on Buddhism into Khmer. Publications include reprints of important texts on Buddhism and culture (as of now 106 titles have been reprinted); Kambuja Suriya (since 1994 as well as reprints of past issues); reprints of Khmer Tripitaka; and the new publications Toponomyie Khmere, The Pali Course, Towards an Environmental Ethic in South East Asia and the Annual Almanac.