The Sri Lankan community has been building a special "stupa" or pagoda which is to be formally finished with a ceremony on Saturday and officially opened a week later.

There are several Buddhist temples in the territory but a stupa is viewed as the very essence of Buddhism. It's a domed structure to hold relics of the life of the Buddha, the ancient teacher and founder of the religion. Stones from temples associated with him are often used.

This will be the first stupa in the ACT.

On Saturday morning, a relic from a holy site in Sri Lanka will be installed in the spire of the new building. Three-hundred gilded Buddha statues will also be placed in the dome.

The structure in concrete and steel has been designed by a monk from Sri Lanka, Gavaragiriye Indasumana. He has also supervised construction. He told The Canberra Times that he enjoyed being in the city. "I'm happy to be here using my skills," he said.

On Friday, the final paint was being applied by volunteers.

The cost is about half a million dollars, with the Sri Lanan community raising money in different ways. The 300 small statues of Buddha have been sold for $300 a piece to worshippers at the temple which is alongside the stupa on the site in Jenke Circuit in Kambah.

"Everybody who comes to the temple donates," said Namal Gamage, vice-chairman of the organising committee.

"Some people brought bricks from home. Some people brought a hundred bricks. Some people gave $10,000. Some people brought $100, depending on their income."

The third building on the site contains a bo tree which has been taken from a cutting of a sacred tree in Sri Lanka that goes back 2500 years.