Ananda College at 125:

A beacon to society

By Pramod DE SILVA

Stepping into Ananda College for the first time is one of my life’s most precious moments. For me, that precious moment came in January 1981 as a Grade 6 student. Way back then, Ananda did not have a primary section and classes ranged only from Grade 6 to 12.

I was fresh out of Asoka Vidyalaya, just a two-minute walk away. All my brothers and even sister (!) had been students of Ananda (the school used to have a very few girls from time to time), so getting into Ananda was always a dream for me. My mother, who was a teacher at Ananda College from 1968 to 1975, thought it was the most natural thing to happen.

Ananda was both familiar and unfamiliar to me. It was familiar, because my mother and brothers were there and they used to relate many stories about the educational colossus that is Ananda. It was unfamiliar, because I had never really been inside the premises, never really felt the pulse of the school that celebrates 125 years just two days from now, on November 1.

And when I finally did enter the hallowed grounds that had nurtured many eminent Sri Lankans, it was a feeling like no other. Here I was, just 12 years old, attired in the all-white school uniform, waiting to discover the joy and purpose of being an Anandian. I was to tread on a path that had been trodden by many others before me, a path that would show me the way to become a good citizen replete with values.

The shrine room and on top right, the Buddha statue

I might have been just one of the 5,000 students at Ananda that day, but those first steps laid a solid foundation for the later years of my life. One of my first sights at Ananda is one that I would never ever forget: the serene Buddha statue at the College shrine. The Buddha statue has a unique place at Ananda, whose motto is a great advice given by the Enlightened One – Appamado Amathapadam, which basically means that one should not hesitate to gather merit and follow the Dhamma.

Buddhism indeed plays a pivotal role in the life of an Anandian. That was the very aim of the founder of the school, Col. Henry Steele Olcott who saw the dire need for a school based on a Buddhist foundation for the Ceylonese student fraternity. Ananda thus had a very humble beginning on November 1, 1886, at 61, Maliban Street, Colombo with just 37 students, although the school was officially named Ananda College only in 1895. Today, it is the leading Buddhist educational institution in the country.

However, Ananda was always a microcosm of Sri Lanka itself. On my very first day at Ananda, I became friends with several Tamil and Muslim students. There were many Christians among my friends. In just a few months, they were truly at home with the sentiments and traditions at Ananda. All my classmates, regardless of their ethnicity and religion, joined in the morning ‘Mal poojawa’ at the Shrine. That unity amidst diversity was symbolic of Ananda.

One bedrock

If Buddhism is one bedrock on which Ananda stands proudly, the other is patriotism, an undying love for your country. Again, that is a state of mind that an Anandian acquires on the first day in school upon hearing the school anthem “Dina Dina Kithugosa Bovi-Wejambenu Anandapa Maatha” as well as the National Anthem at the morning assembly. Patriotic feelings are imparted by teachers too. It is a place where you learn about the value of selflessness, the value of sacrifice for the good of the Nation.

Morning assembly

Statue of Col. Henry Steele Olcott

An Anandian is always fiercely proud of his school and his Motherland to his dying day. Anandians were naturally in the forefront of the independence struggle. It is also not surprising that a large number of Anandians has made the Supreme Sacrifice in the defence of the Nation. Their efforts have not been in vain, for we are free of terrorism now. A monument to their heroism adorns the school compound.

Ananda is life’s great teacher for its students, past and present. Shaped by the Buddha’s teachings and guided on the correct path of life by eminent teachers, heroism, discipline, commitment, compassion, generosity and altruism come naturally to Anandians. At Ananda, I learned to share the pain of others, the joy of others. I learned to give, I learned to share. The classroom is not only a repository of theoretical knowledge at Ananda, it is also a treasure trove of moral values. It is a tradition that has been going on for 125 years.

The present students of Ananda are indeed lucky that they are witnessing the school’s 125th anniversary. By virtue of the fact that I entered the school in 1981, I had a similar opportunity – witnessing, and being a part of, the 100th anniversary of Ananda in 1986. It was a momentous event, with a mega-exhibition by students as the centrepiece. It was a very lucky coincidence. In fact, the Anandians who were in school in 1986 still call themselves the Centenary Group.

The centenary celebration was a fitting tribute to all those who had contributed to make Ananda what it is today, from Col. Olcott, C.W. Leadbeater (the first principal 1886-1890) and Mudaliyar Tudor Rajapaksha (who donated the land in Maradana where the College is located) downwards. Among the other towering figures associated with Ananda as Principals are Sir D.B. Jayatilaka, Fritz Kunz, P.De.S. Kularatne, Dr. G.P. Malalasekara, L.H. Meththananda, Lt.Col. E.A. Perusinghe and Col. G.W. Rajapaksha.

Academia to business

The Kularatne Hall

The principals and a superb team of teachers helped mould students who had made their mark here and around the world, in a variety of fields from politics to engineering to academia to business. Among those teachers were Ven. Kotagama Vachissara Thera, Dr. T.B. Jayah, C. Suntharalingam, V. Thanabalasingham, Lionel Ranwala and R.S. Gunawardane. Indeed, some of the most brilliant teachers at Ananda were not Sinhalese, which again attests to Ananda’s multi-ethnic character.

Most students of Ananda, who had gone on to do great things for the Motherland and the world, do continue to serve their school through the Old Boys Association which renders a yeoman service and Anandians living abroad have established Old Boys’ networks in key world cities. For example, the renovation of the iconic Kularatne Hall would not have been possible without the Old Boys’ worldwide fundraising campaign.

It is impossible to walk anywhere in the college premises without getting a palpable feeling of history of the College and of the country itself, as the Kularatne Hall testifies.

There’s the Leadbeater Hall that served as the library, the M. U. Moore (Pasmahal) building (in memory of M. U. Moore, Principal 1910-1914), the statue of the founder, the hostel (that dates back to 1922 and which was a home away from home for thousands of students) and the memorial to Ananda’s fallen heroes to name just a few of the structures that afford a link to history.

Even a visit to the Ananda College grounds evokes a bit of sporting history – it was here that many of the cricketing heroes of Ananda honed their skills. After all, Ananda is not only part of history, but it also makes history in every sphere.

Ananda has a very special mission in the country’s history. That is, “to lead the sons of Ananda through a path of moral and intellectual discovery, instilling Buddhist values and patriotic senses while fulfilling National Educational Goals”.

This blends in ideally with its vision to “be a source of erudite individuals imbued with Buddhist Values who contribute to the wellbeing of the society”. That is a mission and a vision that Ananda will continue not only for the next 125 years, but also for centuries hence. The spirit of Ananda shall live inside the hearts and minds of all who have been privileged to share its embrace.