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Chilaw is a historical village of the pearl of the Indian Ocean. In the geographical maps of ancient and understandable Ceylon or Taprobane – now Sri Lanka – the name Chilaw is visible as “Chilao” the meaning of which is not clear. Ptolemy (A.D. 150) – an ancient Greek seaman and the Dutch who prepared the maps of ancient Ceylon has clearly marked Chilaw as “Chilao” in their maps. The word “Chilao” is derived from Tamil “Chalapam” some say. “Chalapam” refers to the pearls found in Chilaw sea, obtained from oysters. The history of pearls from Chilaw to Mannar goes up to King Vijaya’s era. Chilaw then - a special area - was famous for pearls. Even today some old people call Chilaw as ‘Muthu Halawatha”. As to some historical legends the Sinhala name for Chilaw - Halawatha - goes to the era of king Kawantissa . While taking a Bee Hive to Anurahapura from Negombo infant bee ants were shaken off ( Halawe) now known as Chilaw. As to another legend, Salawatha - Wathasala (Chilaw) means weaving centers - Wasthra Shala - Wathasala has then known as Salawatha and finaly for ease Halawatha. Cotton was brought to Salawatha from “Thambrapanni “ or “Tammanna” for making clothes. Up to date there is a street called “Weavers Street” in Chilaw. Many people like to accept this explanation. According to those legends, Chilaw or Salapura or Halawatha had been inhabited from time immemorial and it goes back to the beginning of Sinhala Rajawaliya - Title of Kings - or to the period of Princess Kuweni of Yaksha tribe who had been weaving cotton when Prince Vijaya (B.C. 483 - 446 ) and his retinue landed at Tammanna or Thambapanni. Chilaw had been a busy and important port in ancient times. A famous traveler - Iban Bathuta in 1344 came to Chilaw. He has written that he saw bundled cinnamon ready to be shipped in port “Salvat” (Salawath - means Chilaw). Then we focus on how Chilaw became populated. Even today most of the Chilawians belong to the Mihindukulasooriyan clang. They are supposed to be the roots - the beginners of Pitipana Street, Chilaw. In the time of King Sri Parakramabahu the VI of Kotte (A.D. 1412 - 1468) nine Army Officers have arrived here with platoons (over 7000) to an invitation made by the king to help fight against Mukkuwa invasion. Those chiefs were of Karawa cast of India(Kawrava). After the battle was won, one of the chiefs Arsakula alias Mihindukulasooriya Mudiyanse and his platoon settled down in Chilaw in Pitipana Street the best part of the Chilaw visinity. Today Mihindukulasooriyans are the direct descendants of Arsakula Alias Mihindukulasooriya Mudiyanse. Other chiefs also settled down along the costal belt up to the Southern parts of Ceylon. When the Portuguese came here in 1505 and started spreading Christianity, Chilaw people embraced it directly. It may be because Mihindukulasooriyans had roots with Thomas Christians in India. Churches were built along the costal belt from Colombo to Puttalam. There was a church in Chilaw too built by the Portuguese. When the Dutch took over it took a bad and uneasy period for Christians. During this period Rev. Fr. Joseph Vaz came to Sri Lanka started his missionary activities as a solace to Christians. His was a secret holy and tremendous service to the nation. We need not repeat here his services to Catholics and the poor especially to the Kandyan Kingdom when an epidemic broke out . From time to time when riots erupted, churches were devastated by the Buddhists and the Dutch. Some wanted to take revenge from Catholism because it was introduced by the Portuguese. But none could wipe out Christianity completely from Sri Lanka. And from time to time disguised priests came here from India and other countries to serve the Catholics here. In 1603 Temporary churches were built in Chilaw, Madampe and Caimal (Kammala) by two Jesuits priests - Sebastian Andreas and Pedro Euticio. But those churched were set on fire due to riots in those days. There was no record as to the whereabouts of the Chilaw church. After that incident as a security measure a new church was built in the name of St. Peter near the sea beach because if any trouble broke up the priest could be saved by sailing them away from the island. That was between the years 1617 - 18. Around 1780 the miraculous statue of Our Lady of Carmel was found. As to the legend a poor woman who went for fire wood to nearby thicket heard a noise that said “take me”. She bundled the statue with firewood and brought it home and kept it a secret. After that they faced many a trouble and finally she disclosed the secret to the villagers. The villagers then erected a church near railway station and enshrined the statue there for worship. The statue had been there for about 80 long years. Those days the fishermen in the village used to get heavy catches of fish and they believed it was a miracle of Our Lady. When Catholics grew in number there was not enough room in the church for the devotees. By that time the Dutch rulers had given freedom for worship one’s own religion. On 08th September 1850, Chilaw was declared a parish. The necessasity of a permanent church felt by the devotees. The parish priest who served Chilaw at that time was Rev. Fr. Froilano Oruna - a Spanish Sylvestro Benedictine order. Mrs. Lucia Fernando – a devoted Christian donated a land and many followed suit. And the village fishermen flock together to contribute one tenth of their income to build the new church. Finally in 29th June 1851, the foundation stone was laid by Mr. Seimon Cassichetty who was then the Magistrate of Chilaw , a great scholar. After nine years of labour the church was built and the miraculous statue was brought to the new church in ceremonial procession. ( Please refer “Halawatha Urumaya” by Susantha Fernando for more details.) In November 16th 1860 The Church was consecrated and according to Rt. Rev. late Dr. His Lordship Edmond Peiris a great historian and the first Sinhalese Bishop, Chilaw church was the first to be consecrated in Sri Lanka. When the Diocese of Chilaw was created in January 05th 1939 by Holy Father Pius XII the church was declared the Cathedral Church of the new Chilaw Diocese. His Lordship Rt. Rev. Dr. Edmond Peiris - a proud son of Chilaw became the first Bishop of Chilaw. This great structure – the Basilica of Chilaw with a glorious outlook of its gothic architecture and the ancient statue of Our Lady perhaps the biggest building in Chilaw even today stands a permanent and blessed monument to Our Lady. The Centenary Jubilee of the cathedral was held in 1951 under the patronage of His Lordship Rt. Rev. Dr. Edmond Peiris O.M.I. – late Bishop of Chilaw.

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The Journey so far Ananda College is the pride and joy of the nation. As the pioneer in Buddhist education, the journey travelled by Ananda college is as majestic as it is monumental. The time is ripe for a little reminiscence about the vast history,which spans over 123 years, of this great school. Sir Henry Steele Olcott, Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thero and other great visionaries of their time decided, at one of the meetings on the Parama Vignanaartha Buddhist Society, to initiate “The Daily Buddhist English Academy” at No.64, Maliban Road , on the 1st of November 1886. Initiated with a meager 35 students,under the patronage of Mr.C.W. Leadbeater as the first principal, little did anyone know that this little school would one day evolve into one of the greatest schools,if not the greatest of them all, in our blessed motherland. Under the Academic Legislature present at that time, schools were required to be registered under the government. On the 16th of January 1889, this school filled out a request to be identified as such. Also on this day, the first ever prize giving was held with Colonel Henry Steele Olcott as the chief guest. “The Daily Buddhist English Academy” was registered as a school in the March of 1889. This month also marked the arrival of two new members of staff for the school, namely Mr. Oliver James and Mr.Bhath of the Madras University. The success of this school was such that the space available at the current location was rendered insufficient so it was decided to shift the school to No.19, Kumara Road. December of the same year (1889) saw the fruits of the hard work put in by the schools towards educating bright young minds. J.P.R. Weerasuriya Silva, a student at this academy, managed to pass the Cambride Junior Test. 1890 saw the arrival of a new Principal to the school, Mr.A.E. Bultjens. A short time later, Mr.D.A. Vittachchi was appointed the acting principal and Mr.Bolis Daliy was appointed as the school co-ordinator. Another important event that marked this year was the shift of the school back to the old premises of No.64, Maliban Road. The reason for this were the unfair complaints which were filed by a Catholic School in Pettah. The prize giving of this year was also held with Sir.Henry Steele Olcott as the main guest, in the month of October. In 1982 as the number of students had increased upto 200, a Trust fund was set up. As the number of students gradually increased, Buddhist well-wishers from around the country volunteered to help the school out with various donations. Also, on the 18th of January 1894, a plot of land of area 3.5 acres was donated to the school by Mr. Tudor Rajapakse. On the 17th of August 1895, the school was moved to this spot. The first Sinhalese Principal to the school, Sir D.B.Jayatilake, was appointed on December 15 1898. The first Old Anandian Society was formed during the reign of this Principal. He left his post as Principal on the 10th of March 1910 and Mr. M.U. Moore was appointed in his place on the 15th of April. Under this principal a large number of building constructions and refurbishments took place. In 1914, on the 30th of January Fritz Kuntz was appointed as principal. During his time, the first hostel was initiated, along with this,in 1915 the first primary classes were initiated. in 1916 the first school laboratory, “Wilson Dias Commemoration Laboratory” was built. Mr. P.D.S. Kularatne was appointed as the next principal, on the 1st January 1918. The “Dutugemunu Trust Fund” was set up during this principal’s time in order to develop classrooms. Also, tutoring of the Bhikku in the lore of English, holding classes in Sinhala, Pali and Sanskrit, creation of the “Science Section” of Ananda College, the publication of “Sinhalese Child” – the monthly magazine, holding tamil medium classes under Mr.A.Siththampalam, creation of the first cadet team in 1920, donation of a 4 acre strip of land at Campbell Place to the school, donation of a 1.5 acre strip of land by the Macwood Company are all very important events which took place in this time frame. During this year, The great Writer Rabindranath Tagore, was the chief guest at the prize giving and in 1927, Mahatma Ghandhi visited Ananda too. In 1945, Mr.A.B.Perera was appointed as the principal. During this principal’s time, another 1.5 acres was donated to the school and a Higher Education Section for women was initiated too. on the 5th of November 1945, when Mr.Perera left the post of Principal, Mr.L.H.Meththananda was appointed to the post. Under this principal, the “Teacher’s co-operation Society” was initiated in 1948. Initialising the construction on a new laboratory, the first teacher’s meeting taking place in 1951, publication of the “Udhawa” (Rise) magazine by the Sinhala Literary Society and especially the two brothers, H.P.Jayasuriya and C.P.Jayasuriya attending the Olympics representing Sri Lanka can be cited as some of the more important events which took place under this principal. After entering a well earned retirement in the Decemver of 1955 by Mr.L.H.Meththananda, Mr.S.A.Wijayatilaka became the next principal. During his time, such buildings as the “Olcott commemoration building”, the “C.W.Leadbeater commemoration building” were built and Ananda officially became a Government School. in 1961, Mr.M.B.Karunananda took over as Principal and during his time the Educational of the school was increased massively. Consequently, Mr.E.A.Rupasinghe was appointed as the Principal and during his time the Ananda College Temple was built. In 1969, on the 4th of May, Mr.G.W.Rajapakse was appointed as Principal and during his time, on the 10th of September 1972 the Police Cadets were formed,in 1978 the school grounds were built and the Kularatne Hall was finished in all it’s glory. In 1982, on the 11th of January Mr.V.S.Kudaligama succeded Mr.Rajapakse and it was during his reign that the first ever “Colours Night” was held. The formation of the Student Counselling Squad, Holding the “Ananda 99″ Festival, Building the “Centenary building” and releasing 4 stamps to commomerate 100 years of greatness, were other events of importance which took place during this principal’s time. In 1989 Mr.A.P.Gunaratne was appointed as Principal. During his time, The Maths and Biology Sections were renovated and a new Cafetaria and a Swimming Pool were also built. He retired in 1995. Mr.T.B.Damunupola succeeded Mr.Gunaratne as the new principal, and during his time, a lot of the buildings within the school were renamed to honour past Principals. Also building a Student’s Savings bank and the 25 meter Kid’s pool can be cited as important events which took place during this Principal’s reign, which ended on the 3rd of January 2001 with his retirement. The Creative Writing Circle of Ananda College which was started during the reign of the principal Mr.A.T.Gunaratne,has done a great service towards the Alma mater and towards the island confirming the skills of Anandians and their duty to the motherland by creating thousands of Creative Anandians.The Creative Writing Circle of Ananda has organized many massive events sharing its legacy with Its' brother and sister schools.The Circle has also supported thousands of creative natives to advance their skills by competiting each other face to face with their creativity. Proving Its' legacy to the world the Board of officials for 2014-2015 was appointed at the Annual General Meeting recently at Ananda College premises.The newly appointed Board of officials is as follows. President- Nipuna Chathuranga Dunuweeraarachchi Vice President- Chamuditha Mahesh Benaragama Secretary- Tharindu Bandara Treasurer- Navindu S. Palliyaguruge Assistant Treasurer- Modith Kavinda Chief Editors- Nipuna Chathuranga Dunuweeraarachchi Tharindu Bandara Co-ordinator- Pabasra Edirisinghe MAY THE BLESSINGS OF MOTHER ANANDA BE WITH YOU!

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The Royal News Team, is currently the official news portal at Royal College. This department is a tri-lingual department which is Sinhala, Tamil and English. Royal News Team has excelled far beyond it

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