1. Introduction: religion, law and the pyrrhic constitutionalism of Sri Lanka -- 2. Managing religion at the end of empire -- 3. Contesting constitutions in the 1950s and 1960s -- 4. Multivalent solutions: drafting the buddhism chapter -- 5. Legal battles for buddhism -- 6. Battles within buddhism -- 7. Constitutional conversions -- 8. Conclusion: the costs of constitutional law.