Being one of the premier Buddhist schools in the country with a history of more than 125 years founded by Colonel Henry Steel Olcot in 1887 as Kandy Buddhist High School. The college was named after Buddha. Dharmaraja College, as well as the other Buddhist Schools in Sri Lanka, owes its existence to Col Henry Steele Olcott, philanthropist and the founder of the Buddhist Theosophical Society. Havin
g read a printed version of the Panadura Vaadaya of 1873, a public debate between Buddhist and Christian representatives on the correctness of each belief, Col Olcott was really impressed of the teachings in Theravada Buddhism, which were in line with his vision as a theosophist.. It resulted in him arriving in Sri Lanka to study more on Buddhism, and starting a branch of the Theosophical Society, first in Colombo and then in Kandy and Galle. He was ably supported by the Venerable Migettuwatte Gunananda Thera - hero of the ‘Panadura Vadaya’, the Venerable Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thero, the Venerable Walane Sri Siddhartha Thero and the Venerable Ratmalane Dhammaloka Thero, along with Anagarika Dharmapala, Walisinghe Harischandra, and Sir D.B. Jayatilaka. Flag of Dharmaraja College
With Sir Olcott’s initiative and guidance, the theosophists identified that a major factor for the decline of Sinhala Buddhists was the lack of proper education facilities, and the best solution was to make available educational institutes with a solid Buddhist religious background. It was under this theory that foundations were laid to the beginning of the "Buddhist Schools" in Sri Lanka, which include the likes of Dharmaraja College, Ananda College, Maliyadeva College & Mahinda College. In 1887 Sir Olcott visited Kandy and expressed his wish to start an English-medium Buddhist School.Several Kandyan nobles were very supportive of the idea, and it was decided that the plot of land in front of the Old Palace, adjoining the Natha Devalaya was the best for building the school. But there was an obstacle in that the plot was covered by a Bo tree, held sacred by the Buddhists, which had to be felled for putting up a school building. The British Administration opposed the felling citing that it would be an action against Buddhism. Wadugodapitiya Punchirala Korale, felled and removed the tree in one night, and leveled up the plot for the building. It was under this pretext that in the morning of Thursday, the 30th of June 1887, Dharmaraja College, under the name of 'Kandy Buddhist High School', was opened. This occasion was graced by Sir Olcott and several Kandyan nobles including Dullawe Adhikaram, Wadugodapitiya Punchirala Korale, T.B. Panabokke and A.D.J. Gunawardena. Andiris de Silva was the first principal and the only teacher of the school at that time, which had enrolled 12 students. The number of students reached the 50's and the staff increased to three under Andiris de Silva, who was an efficient leader and an accomplished teacher. Many of the local nobles supported the school by enrolling their children in, having faith in the staff and headmaster.
