Visakha Vidyalaya (, ) is a girls' school in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. It is a National School managed by the central government providing primary and secondary education.

History

The school was established in 1917 by Celestina Dias as the Buddhist Girls College in a house called 'The Firs' in Turret Road, Colombo, Sri Lanka. It was the desire of Dias to train the school girls according to the

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

moral values and principles. In 1927 it moved to its present premises in Vajira Road, Colombo and was named Visakha Vidyalaya, after

Visakha Visakha (; ), also known as Migāramāta, was a wealthy aristocratic woman who lived during the time of Gautama Buddha. She is considered to have been the chief female patron of the Buddha. Visakha founded the temple Migāramātupāsāda (meanin ...

, a disciple of the Lord Buddha, by Lady Herbert Stanley the wife of the

Governor of Ceylon {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The governor of Ceylon can refer to historical vice-regal representatives of three colonial powers: Portuguese Ceylon * List of captains of Portuguese Ceylon (1518–1551) * List of captain-majors of Portugue ...

at that time. In 1939 the school was affiliated with

Lady Irwin College Lady Irwin College is a constituent college of the University of Delhi located on the North Campus. Established in 1932, it is a women's college located in New Delhi, India, and offers graduate courses in Home Science and Food Technology as ...

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

to conduct courses in

Home economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences (often shortened to FCS or FACS), is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and f ...

. Science subjects were introduced to the curriculum in 1946, for the first time in a girls' school in Sri Lanka.

School motto

The school's motto is from the Alavaka Sutta in the Sutta Pitaka of the Tripitaka. When the yakkha Alavaka first confronted

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

, he threatened to exterminate Buddha unless he, Buddha were to answer all his questions. One of the questions asked was "Kathansu Parisujjhati" (how is one cleansed) to which Buddha replied, "Paññaya Parisujjhati" (by wisdom is one cleansed).

Houses

All the current house names are derived from the names of four past principals of the school, Jeremias Dias the founder of the school, and Sir

Don Baron Jayatilaka Sir Don Baron Jayatilaka, KBE ( Sinhala:ශ්‍රීමත් දොන් බාරොන් ජයතිලක; 13 February 1868 – 29 May 1944) known as ''D.B. Jayatilaka'' was a Sri Lankan Sinhalese educationalist, statesmen and dip ...

, who was once the patron of the school. There are six houses at Visakha:

Past principals

Notable alumni

* Kusala Abhayavardhana, social worker and member of parliament -

Borella Borella is the largest suburb in Colombo, Sri Lanka represented by divisional code 8. Demographic Borella is a multi-religious and multi-ethnic area. The major ethnic communities in Borella are Sinhalese people, Sinhalese and Tamils. There are a ...

(1970-77) *

Senali Fonseka Wanniarachchige Senali Koshila Fonseka ( (born 18 September 1991) is a Sir Lankan actress in Sri Lankan cinema, cinema, theatre, and television. Her first appeared film was ''Siri Parakum'' as ''Sirimal Ethana.'' Senali became more popular with ...

, actress * Kshanika Hirimburegama,

Vice-Chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

of the

University of Colombo The University of Colombo (informally Colombo University or UoC) is a Public University, public research university located primarily in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is the oldest institution of modern higher education in Sri Lanka. Specialised in t ...

* Oshadie Kuruppu, Sri Lankan badminton player * Kamini Nirmala Mendis,

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

at the

and former

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

expert at the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

Sachini Nipunsala Hewakalu Ambalage Sachini Nipunsala (; born 7 November 1992), popularly as Sachini Nipunsala, is a Sri Lankan television presenter and dancer. Started as a child artist, Nipunsala became a popular television presenter in Sri Lanka by hosting th ...

, TV presenter, dancer *

Sabeetha Perera Warnakulasuriya Uswaththa Liyanage Sabeetha Janaki Perera (born December 1, 1962) is an actress in Cinema of Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan cinema and Cinema of Pakistan, old Lollywood cinema of Pakistan. She is the most successful female superstar of th ...

, film actress *

Sumitra Peries Sumitra Peries (March 24, 1935–January 19, 2023) was a Sri Lankan filmmaker. She was the first female film director from Sri Lanka. and was known as the "Poetess of Sinhala Cinema". She also held the post of Sri Lanka's ambassador to France, ...

, filmmaker and Sri Lanka's Ambassador to France * Hirunika Premachandra, politician * Jayathri Samarakone, Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Singapore *

Inoka Sathyangani Inoka Sathyangani Keerthinanda is an internationally acclaimed Cinema of Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan film director, producer and former Chairperson of Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation. In 2002 she received critical acclaim for her maiden effort ''Sul ...

, film director and producer * Ruchira Silva, fashion designer * Deepali Wijesundera, Judge of the

Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka The Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka, commonly known as the Appeal Court, is the second most senior court in the Sri Lankan legal system, with only the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka above it. Established in 1971, under the Court of Appeal Act No. 4 ...

Ganga Seneviratne Ganga Seneviratne (born 27 May 2003) is a Sri Lankan swimmer, specialising in the backstroke. Career 2022 She won the 50m, 100m, and 200m backstroke as well as the 100m freestyle at the Sri Lankan Selection Trials in January 2022. She was selec ...

, Sri Lankan national swimmer * Yohani de Silva, singer

References

{{Reflist

External links

Visakha Vidyalaya
1917 establishments in Ceylon Educational institutions established in 1917 National schools in Sri Lanka Buddhist schools in Sri Lanka Girls' schools in Sri Lanka Schools in Colombo