Mother Ananda.

There is a school that will never be forgotten when leaving a note about Sri Lanka. Of course this school is a legend. That is Ananda College , Colombo 10.

This proud school was started on 1st November , 1886. The Paramavinnartha Society started this school with 37 students. This school was originally located on Maliban Street , Pettah. Mr. W. Ledibitar was the 1st principal of this school which was started as an English Buddhist school. Ven. Hikkaduwe Sumangala Thero and  Henry Steele Olcott took the initiative to start this school.

In 1889 this school was a place where 120 students were educated and was taken to Prince Street , Colombo and officially registered.

This English Buddhist School was relocated in 1895 to its current location. Mr. E.A.Buljans was the principal at that time. Later the name of the English Buddhist School was removed & the school was named after the great Arahat Ananda. From then on the school became known throughout Sri Lanka as Ananda College , Colombo.

Rabindranath Tagore Asia's first Nobel Laureate , was the Chief Guest at the Annual Prize Giving of Ananda College on November 10 , 1922. Also in 1927 , Mr. Gandhi visited Ananda College.

For more than 135 years, Mother Ananda has been able to transform Sri Lankan boys into great citizens. 

Prof. V.K.Samaranayake , Prof. W.S.Karunarthe , D.T.Vimalasurendra , Dr. N.M.Perera , former Prime Minister Rathnasiri Wikramanayaka & former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya were educated at this excellent school. Not only that , Army Commander Sarath Fonseka , Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda , Commander Jagath Dias , Prasanna Silva , Kamal Gunaratne , Civil Defense Chief Sarath Weerasekara and many other great war heroes who led the army in face of brutal terrorism were educated at Ananda College.

Former cricketer Arjuna Ranathunga , Mavan Athapaththu , Popular singer Bathiya & Santhush , Jananath Warakagoda , Harshana Disanayake , Actor Sahan Ranwala & Sajitha Anthony are also alumni of this schoole. Most notably , the current president , Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa was educated at Ananda College.

Not only the limited number mentioned above but also many Anandins   work in various fields including politicians, war heroes, doctors, lawyers, engineers, singers, musicians, dancers, professors, teachers.

At present Mr. S.M.Keerthirathna is the the principal of Ananda College and more than 200 teachers are imparting education to the students. By today there are more than 7 000 students studying  at Ananda college.

So I remember how I was educated at this prestigious school. I am humbled and proud to be an alumnus of such a great school. Love u Mother Ananda.