Nalanda College

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Coordinates: 6°55′20″N, 79°52′29″E

Nalanda College, Colombo
Emblem of Nalanda College
Apadana Sobhini Pangna
"Wisdom Beautifies Character"
Location
Colombo, Sri Lanka Flag of Sri Lanka
Information
Principal Hemantha Premathilaka
Type Public School
Color(s) Maroon and Silver
Established 1925
Homepage http://www.nalanda.sch.lk


Nalanda College is a Buddhist school in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The college was established by P. de S. Kularatne as an offshoot of Ananda College on November 1, 1925.[1] Like Ananda College, it was established partly through the assistance of the Buddhist Theosophical society led by Colonel Henry Steel Olcott, an American convert to Buddhism[citation needed].

Contents

[edit] History

It was an era the demand for students to enter Ananda College Colombo was immensley high. As a result, in 1923 the then principal of Ananda College Mr P. de S. Kularatne leased the bare land adjoining to Ananda College playground located in Campbell Place and moved some classes of Ananda. Those classrooms were in a humble bamboo shaded hut.

This wing of Ananda was under the administratorship of Mr E.W Perera and the then director of education Mr Robinson was highly impressed the way it was functioning and was approved as a new institution.

Later Mr Kularatne bought further lands close by and built up a new building comprising 16 class rooms out of that 2 were used as laboratories and 2 others as the staff room and the principal's office. Mr. E. W Perera was appointed the head master and Venerable Balangoda Ananda Maitreya became the first Dharmarcharya.

It was the 39th anniversary of Ananda College on 1st November 1925 that Mr Kularatne registered this off shoot of Ananda as a separate school. Mr. L. H. Meththananda became the first principal of Nalanda. Venerable Balangoda Ananda Maitreya who was allotted the task of finding a name and a motto for this new school named it 'Nalanda' and 'Apadana Sobhini Panna' meaning 'wisdom beautifies character' was chosen as the motto.

Mr Kularatne chose 330 best students of Ananda to be the first batch of students that were sent to Nalanda for both senior and junior schools. In 1926 this infant school was put in to the care of Prof. G. P. Malalasekara who was an intellectual giant and further buildings were constructed specially with lented money from Anagarika Dharmapala.

Nalanda was split into two during the second world war and was moved to Maharagama and Minuwangoda. Later after the war it was restored.

Since then Nalanda College, Colombo has become a crown jewel in the education system of Sri Lanka and is a prestigious institute in the forefront of holding out the nation’s rich cultural heritage.

[edit] Nalanda College Today

College Entrance
College Entrance
A/L Laboratories
A/L Laboratories
O/L Section
O/L Section
Shrine Room
Shrine Room
Thakshila Building
Thakshila Building
Malalasekara Hall
Malalasekara Hall
Language Laboratory
Language Laboratory
Way to College
Way to College
Junior School
Junior School
Primary School
Primary School
Play Ground
Play Ground
Pavillion
Pavillion
Swimming Pool
Swimming Pool
Basket Ball Court
Basket Ball Court
Tennis Court
Tennis Court

[edit] Clubs & Societies

  • Aeronautical Society
  • Adventures Club [1]
  • Communication Unit [2]
  • Life Saving Unit [3]
  • Prefects Guild [4]
  • Scout Troop
  • Western Music Association [5]

[edit] Sports

Sports played at Nalanda include;

  • Athletics
  • Badminton [6]
  • Baseball [7]
  • Basketball
  • Cricket
  • Chess
  • Gymnastics
  • Hockey
  • Martial Arts - Karate, Wushu
  • Rugby Football [8]
  • Cadet Band (Island best Cadet band 2001,2003,2004,2006,2007)
  • Soccer
  • Squash
  • Swimming
  • Tennis
  • Volleyball

[edit] Principals of Nalanda

  • L. H. Meththananda 1925 - 1926
  • Prof. Gunapala Malalasekara 1926 - 1927
  • G. K. W. Perera 1927 - 1928
  • J. N. Jinendradasa 1928 - 1946
  • D. C. Lowris 1947 - 1952
  • M. de S. Jayarathne 1953 - 1955
  • M. W. Karunananda 1956 - 1962
  • K. M. W. Kuruppu 1962 - 1963
  • D. J. Edirisinghe 1963 - 1964
  • Gunapala Wickramaratne 1964 - 1969
  • Sugunadasa Athukorala 1969 - 1982
  • Dharma Gunasinghe 1982 - 1990
  • D. G. Sumanasekera 1990 - 1994
  • Edward Ranasinghe 1994 - 1999
  • Hemantha Premathilaka 1999 - to date

[edit] Notable Teachers

  • Ananda Maitreya Thero - one of the great personalities of Theravada Buddhism in the twentieth century in Sri Lanka [9]
  • Dr. Lionel Algama - renowned musician & composer [12]
  • Piyasena Rathuwithana - famous astrologer, poet, writer, journalist [13]
  • Wickrema Seneviratne - famous tele & stage drama actor [14]
  • Dilip Rohana - famous teledrama actor [15]
  • Somalatha Subasinghe - famous film & teledrama actor [16]

[edit] Old Nalandians

Main Article: List of Old Nalandians

Past students who have studied at Nalanda College Colombo are referred to as Old Nalandians.

Following list contains few of well-known Old Nalandians:

[edit] External links

[edit] References and Further Reading

  1. ^ History of Nalanda. Nalanda College. Retrieved on August 29, 2006.
  • Souvenir, that was released to mark the 60th anniversary of Nalanda College Colombo in 1986