Ananda Sastralaya ( sinhala: ආනන්ද ශාස්ත්‍රාලය) is a public boys school located in Kotte, Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1890 as Kotte Buddhist English Mixed School. In 1952 a part of the school land was designated by the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

as an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

since an ancient tunnel junction erected in the 16th century was found within the school premises.

History

As the awakening of

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

education system in

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

during the 19th century, some of the leaders in Kotte area set up a new school, ''Kotte'' ''Bauddha Mishra Vidyalaya'' - කෝට්ටේ බෞද්ධ මිශ්‍ර විද්‍යාලය (Kotte Buddhist Boys' School), on 4 November 1880. Initially the school was operated in small scale with very few facilities. On 1 January 1890 the Ven. Emulgama Wimalatissa Thera with ''Dayaka Sabha'' of

Kotte Raja Maha Vihara Kotte Raja Maha Vihara ( si, කෝට්ටේ රජ මහා විහාරය) is a historic Buddhist temple situated in Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Western province, Sri Lanka. It is located near to the historic building Pita Kotte Gal Am ...

proceeded to enhance the facilities of the school and changed the school's name to Kotte Bauddha (Buddhist) English Mixed School. The first principal of the school was C. Ranasingha (1890–1903), who was followed by D. B. Jayatilaka (1903–1905). In 1910 the name of the school was changed to Jayawardena Shasthra Shalava, whilst D. J. Jayatunga (1905–1922) was appointed as the school's third principal. After the establishment of

Buddhist Theosophical Society Colonel Henry Steel Olcott (2 August 1832 – 17 February 1907) was an American military officer, journalist, lawyer, Freemason and the co-founder and first president of the Theosophical Society. Olcott was the first well-known American of Euro ...

, Jayawardena Shasthra Shalava took over the administration of the school. The administration renamed the school, Ananda Sastralaya, and appointed the former principal of

Ananda College ''Appamādo Amathapadan'' (Buddhist quote from the Apramada Vagga in the Dhammapada) , motto_translation = Heedfulness, Punctuality leads to Nirvana , location = P De S Kularatne Mawatha , city = Colo ...

, S. P. Perera, as the school's principal. In 1934, Dr. E. W. Adikaram, renowned educator, writer and social activist took on the duties of the principal of Ananda Sastralaya and his period was known as the golden age of the school. He made a vital contribution to the renaissance of Buddhist education. With the help of many donours and a large number of social workers, hee bought another 13 acre land from the Pagoda area and built the hostel and sports ground of Ananda Sastralaya. Later, he used the resources used to mark the beginning of another Buddhist school in Kotte at that time. Later, this school was named as "Ananda Sastralaya Junior School (No. 02)". During the

second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

the school premises was taken over by the

Ceylon Army ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம் , image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army , start_date ...

for the use as an army camp. After the war, the school was re-established. Under the 1961 Parliamentary Act passed by the Government, all the educational institutes were taken under to one national system of education, whereby all the schools that were managed by the Buddhist Theosophical Society were transferred across to the Government. In the 1960s, Stanley Thilakarathne, a former MP from Kotte (who was selected as the speaker of the parliament later) pointed out the need for a girls' college in Kotte and reserved an unused land plot in the 13 acre land in the Pagoda Ananda Sastralaya Junior School No. 2. New Girls' School was established on 11 January 1971 as " Ananda Balika Vidyalaya, Kotte."http://www.anandabalikaoga.com/?page_id=11

Sports

Houses

The students of the Ananda Sastralaya are divided into four houses. These are: *Paravi - Colour - Red *Kokila - Colour - Green *Thisara - Colour - Red *Mayura - Colour - Blue An athletic tournament among these houses is held once a year at the beginning of the first term.

Past principals

Notable alumni

References

External links

Location of Ananda Sastralaya
{{Education in Sri Lanka Buddhist schools in Sri Lanka Boys' schools in Sri Lanka Provincial schools in Sri Lanka Boarding schools in Sri Lanka Schools in Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Archaeological sites in Sri Lanka Educational institutions established in 1890 1890 establishments in Ceylon