Rahula College

Coordinates: 5°57′12″N 80°32′6″E / 5.95333°N 80.53500°E / 5.95333; 80.53500

Rahula College
Location
Matara
Sri Lanka
Information
Type All-Boys government school, started as private Buddhist
Motto අත්තානං දමයන්ති පණ්ඩිතා
(Pali for "Wise man controls himself")
Religious affiliation(s) Buddhist
Established 1923
Grades 1–13
Number of students Over 7000
Color(s) Blue and Gold
        
Affiliation Matara Buddhists' Society (1923)
Website rahulacollege.org

Rahula College is a boys' school in Sri Lanka, located in Matara district. Though it was originally a Buddhist school, now it is run by the Government of Sri Lanka as a National School. It was one of the first schools which was converted to a National School. Rahula College has two sections - the Primary section, which serves students from Grade 1 to Grade 5, and the Secondary section, which serves students from Grade 6 to Grade 13.

History

In 1921, Frederick Gordon Pearce (principal of Mahinda College, Galle), D.T.W. Rajapaksha Ralahami and Sir R.S.S. Gunawardana established the "Buddhists Society". On 1 May 1923, the Buddhists Society opened a school named Parakramabhahu Vidyalaya, in a rented building on Main Street, Matara. Parakramabhahu Vidyalaya's motto was "May I be a true Buddhist". Hewabowalage Yasapala was the first student. Parakramabhahu Vidyalaya was shifted to the "Saram Mudali Walawwa" which was donated by C. A. Odiris de Silva, with the new name of "Rahula College". C.A. Odiris de Silva's second son C.A. Ariyathilake, who also donated Matara's leading girls' school Sujatha Vidyalaya, donated this school to the government.

Rahula College currently has over 7,000 students.

Matara District

Principals

  Period Name
1st 1923 – 1932 Mr. G. William De Silva
2nd 1932 – 1936 Mr. C. Amirthalingam
3rd 1936 – 1937 Mr. J. R. Bhatt
4th 1937 – 1956 Mr. D. J. Kumarage
5th 1956 – 1973 Mr. B. P. Ariyawansa
6th 1973 – 1979 Mr. B. Suriarachchi
7th 1979 – 1983 Mr. A. H. Godavitharana
8th 1983 – 1986 Mr. P. Wijewardana
9th 1986 – 1987 Mr. Mahinda Jagoda
10th 1987 – 1989 Mr. N. Weerathunga
11th 1989 – 1990 Mr. A. M. Liyanage
12th 1990 – 1998 Mr. N. Ariyawansha
13th 1998 – 2002 Mr. Sarath Gunarathna
14th 2002 – 2010 Mr. Kithsiri Liyanagamage
15th 2010 – 2016 Mr. Nimal Dissanayake
16th 2016 – Mr. Francis Welage

College houses

College houses' names and colours:

Web team

Rahula College's official website was established in 2012 as a result of the Rahula Web Project along with the Rahula Web Team 2003. The project was conducted by Bogoda Wimalagnana Thero, Mr. Jayawardane, Mr. V.V.D. Dharmawardane.

Primary section

Rahula Primary is located in Welegoda. It was established in 1991, at the place where the Sudarshana Model School was. There are classes from grade 1 to grade 5.The former principal was Mr. Gamini Abeykon and the current principal of the primary section is Mrs. Thilakani Gunawardena.

Clubs and extracurricular activities

The Internet Operations Team of The College – Team|RCMweb operates the RahulaTV project, which broadcast the "Battle of Two Cities" match between 2011 Rahula College and St. Aloysius’ College as its inaugural webcast. RahulaTV has been function as a sub unit of the Team|RCMweb. RahulaTV is run in collaboration with Rahula College Media Unit presenters. Its web streaming service covers school events of community interest, live through the Internet.

Sports at the college include athletics, basketball, boxing, chess, cricket, rugby, soccer, swimming, volleyball, table tennis, badminton and karate.

Notable alumni

Old pupils of Rahula College Matara are called Rahulians.[1] Following is a list of some notable alumni:

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.
Name Notability Reference
Gunasekera, D. E. W.D. E. W. Gunasekera Minister of Constitutional Affairs & National Integration
Pathirana, BuddhikaBuddhika Pathirana MP - Member of the 7th Parliament of Sri Lanka represents the United National Party (UNP), for Matara District
Weeratunga, LalithLalith Weeratunga SLAS - current Permanent Secretary to the President
Balapatabendi, K.K. Balapatabendi former Permanent Secretary to the President of Sri Lanka and Diplomat, former Chairman, SriLankan Airlines
Kitulgoda, DhammikaDhammika Kitulgoda former District Judge, former Secretary General of Parliament (1999–2002, 2008–2012 ) and Secretary to the Parliamentary Council
Galappatty, GunasenaGunasena Galappatty Sri Lankan dramatist, and Sinhala Radio Play writer
Hettigoda, VictorVictor Hettigoda Sri Lankan entrepreneur
Randiv, SurajSuraj Randiv Sri Lanka cricketer [2][3][4]
Wickramasinghe, PramodyaPramodya Wickramasinghe former Sri Lanka Test cricketer
Abeygunawardana, AsokaAsoka Abeygunawardana Chairman & CEO of Strategic Enterprise Management Agency at Presidential Secretariat,Sri Lanka
Wijesinghe, SarathSarath Wijesinghe former Sri Lankan Ambassador designate to the UAE, attorney-at-law, former President of Association of Sri Lankan Lawyers (ASLLU) United Kingdom, former Chairman of the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) [5]
Hewamadduma, AmaraAmara Hewamadduma former government agent, literary figure and historian

Sports matches

The annual Rahula - Thomas Football Encounter' or Battle of Golden Ensigns is a football Match played between Rahula College and St. Thomas' College, Matara. It was one of the First annual inter school football matches in Sri Lanka.

Starting from 2012 Rahula College and Dharmapala College play an annual match. The first match was held on Uyanwatta Stadium and Rahula College was the host.

References

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