Dharmaraja College
| Dharmaraja College Kandy ධර්මරාජ විද්යාලය මහනුවර |
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| Location | |
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Kandy Sri Lanka |
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| Coordinates | 7°17′21.69″N 80°38′58.83″E / 7.2893583°N 80.6496750°ECoordinates: 7°17′21.69″N 80°38′58.83″E / 7.2893583°N 80.6496750°E |
| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| Motto |
Attahi Attano Natho Pali – "Oneself is the refuge for one" (Buddhist quote from the Dhammapada) |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Buddhist |
| Established | June 30, 1887 |
| Founder | Col. Henry Steel Olcott |
| Principal | D.M.T.P. Wanasinghe |
| Staff | 175 |
| Grades | Class 1 – 13 |
| Gender | Boys |
| Age | 6 to 18 |
| Enrollment | 4500 |
| Pupils | Rajans |
| Colour(s) |
Maroon, Light Blue |
| Alumni | Old Rajans |
| Website | www.dharmaraja.lk |
Maroon, Light Blue
Dharmaraja College (Sinhalese: ධර්මරාජ විද්යාලය), founded in 1887 is a premier Boys' School in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is a Buddhist school with around 175 teaching staff and around 4,500 students. The school has many renowned figures in its alumni (aka Rajans) including William Gopallawa, A. E. Goonesinha, T.B Kehelgamuwa and others.
A land area of 54 acres (220,000 m2) is owned by the school spreading over half of the Dharmaraja hill. Dharmaraja has one of the oldest and most prestigious Scout troops in the world, the 1st Kandy Dharmaraja Scout Group, which was established in 1913. It is one of the first Sri Lankan schools to start playing cricket. It has consistently ranked among the first two boys schools in Sri Lanka in the preference rankings based on year 5 scholarship examinees' demand.
Dharmaraja College, Kandy is one of the premier Buddhist schools in the country boasting a prolific history of more than 120 years since 30 June 1887. The college was named after Buddha.
Dharmaraja College, as well as the other Buddhist Schools in Sri Lanka, owes its existence to Col Henry Steel Olcott, philanthropist and the founder of the Buddhist Theosophical Society. Having 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 Thera, the Venerable Dodanduwe Piyarathana Thero, the Venerable Walane Sri Siddhartha Thero and the Venerable Ratmalane Dhammaloka Thero, along with Anagarika Dharmapala, Walisinghe Harischandra, and Don Agaris Divakara Mohottige, Mudaliyar of Central Province. Mudaliyar Agaris was a popular and respected man throughout Kandy Province and had been given the title in 1878 after his father, Don Alexander-James Divakara Mohottige had died.
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