Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, commonly known as Kotte, is the official administrative capital of Sri Lanka. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is a satellite city and located within the urban area of Sri Lanka's de facto economic, executive, and judicial capital, Colombo.
Egodahage George Wilfred Alwis Samarakoon known as Ananda Samarakoon was a Sri Lankan composer and musician. He composed the Sri Lankan national anthem "Namo Namo Matha" and is considered the father of artistic Sinhala music and founder of the modern Sri Lankan Geeta Sahitya. He committed suicide in 1962, possibly driven by unauthorized changes to lyrics in a composition.
Nalanda College is a 100% Buddhist school in Colombo where provides primary and secondary education for Sri Lankan boys. The school was established by P. de S. Kularatne as an offshoot of Ananda College Colombo and was registered as a separate school on 1 November 1925.
Patrick de Silva Kularatne was a Sri Lankan educationist and politician. He was a Member of the State Council of Ceylon (1942-1947) and Member of Parliament (1960-1965). He served as Principal of Ananda College and Dharmaraja College and established Nalanda College Colombo, Ananda Balika Vidyalaya, Moratuwa Vidyalaya and Dharmapala Vidyalaya. As a member of the Executive Committee on Education, he played an instrumental role in the realisation of free education from kindergarten to university.
Dr. Cristopher William Wijekoon Kannangara was a Sri Lankan Lawyer and a politician. Rising up the ranks of Sri Lanka's movement for independence in the early part of the 20th century, he moved on to play a pivotal role defending leaders of the independence movement in court and achieving vital legal victories contributing vastly to the cause of independence as a lawyer and orator, soon achieving the Presidency of Ceylon National Congress, the forerunner to Sri Lanka's Parliament UNP. Later, he became the first Minister of Education in the State Council of Ceylon, and was instrumental in introducing extensive reforms to the country's education system that opened up education to children from all levels of society.
Dharmapala Vidyalaya, Pannipitiya, established in 1942 on land owned by Anagarika Dharmapala, is the largest Buddhist Co-educational school in Sri Lanka. It is a public school and provides primary and secondary education.
Ananda Sastralaya 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 as an archaeological site since an ancient tunnel junction erected in the 16th century was found within the school premises.
Mathugama is a semi urban town surrounded by mountains. It is an electorate of the Kalutara district, in Western Province, Sri Lanka. The town is located 64 km (40 mi) to the south of Colombo.
Bandarwela Madya Maha Vidyalaya is a public school in Uva province, Sri Lanka which was founded in 1942 as a section of Royal College Colombo. A national school, controlled by the central government, it provides primary and secondary education. Bandarawela Central College has supplied many undergraduates from Badulla District to local universities.
Tuan Burhanuddin Jayah, was a Sri Lankan educationalist, politician, diplomat and Muslim community leader and considered one of Sri Lanka's national heroes. He started his career as a school teacher and retired after serving 27 years as the principal of Zahira College, Colombo. Under his stewardship, Zahira College became one of the leading schools in the country.
Ananda Central College-Elpitiya, is a co-educational National school in the Elpitiya division, Galle district, Sri Lanka. It provides education for around 4000 students in grades 1 to 13.
Rathnayaka Mudiyanselage Dharmadasa Banda, known commonly as R. M. Dharmadasa Banda, was a Sri Lankan teacher, lawyer and politician, a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka and a former cabinet minister. He was a Basnayaka Nilame of the Ruhunu Maha Kataragama Devalaya.
Mahatma Gandhi the 'Father of the Nation of India,' paid a historic visit to Ceylon in 1927. On his first and only visit to the island, he was invited to Chilaw by the famed freedom fighters of Sri Lanka, Charles Edgar Corea and his brother Victor Corea. In addition to Chilaw, Mahatma Gandhi had visited Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Jaffna, Nuwara Eliya, Matale, Badulla, Bandarawela, Hatton and Point Pedro during his three-week-long visit to Sri Lanka and made many speeches to Sri Lankan audiences. During his stay in Ceylon he also visited the schools established by the Buddhist Theosophical Society in Ceylon namely Ananda College in Colombo, Mahinda College in Galle and Dharmaraja College in Kandy.
Kalutara Koralalage Edward Winifred Brito Adikaram was an educationalist, writer, social activist and a philosopher in Sri Lanka. In 1931 he obtained an M.A degree from London School of Oriental Studies and in 1933 a PhD on the thesis "Early History of Buddhism in Ceylon". After returning to Sri Lanka he started to teach in Ananda Sastralaya, Kotte and in 1934, he became the principal of the school. He was a prominent nonviolence activist in Sri Lanka.
Don Benjamin Rupasinghe Gunawardena, popularly as Robert Gunawardena, was a Sri Lankan Marxist politician and diplomat. He was one of the founders of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, which was the first political party in Sri Lanka, and served as the long time MP for Kotte. He was the leader of the Suriya-Mal Movement and served as ambassador to China between 1965 and 1970.
Kusuma Rajaratne was a Ceylonese politician.
Dayasena Turnolius Pasqual was a Ceylonese politician. He represented the Matugama electorate in Parliament for 21 consecutive years from 1956 to 1977.
Bernard Soysa was a Sri Lankan politician.
Anupa Pium Pasqual is a Sri Lankan politician and Member of Parliament.
Dr. Ranatunga Arachchige Dayarathna Ranatunga, popularly as Dayarathna Ranatunga, is a Sri Lankan singer and music director. One of the most honored singers of Sri Lanka, Dayarathna is considered as an icon in Ragadhari music in Sri Lanka.
