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Dharmadutha Vidyalaya is a leading Sinhala Buddhist school in Sri Lanka. The school was founded in 1891 by the Absolute Consciousness Buddhist Society founded by Colonel Henry Steele Olcott.
During the British rule in Sri Lanka, English schools were started by Catholic missionaries. The aim was to operate an English-educated generation outfit for them and run the office system easily.
In these English schools, not only English language was taught but also to indoctrinate the Buddhist students into their religion. The Buddhist people were unhappy about this action. During this era (1880), 'Colonel Henry Steele Olcott' came to this country. Founder of schools like Royal College and ST. Thomas College in Colombo, Trinity College and Kingswood College in Kandy were founded during this period. Badulla was established in the same manner as Uva Vidyalaya.
After that Badulla started St. Beads College. With the awakening of Buddhism in Sri Lanka at the end of the 18th century, the attention of educated Buddhists turned to provide English knowledge to Buddhist children in the Buddhist environment. That is why Buddhist schools were established in Badulla as well as all over the country. In 1880, American national 'Cornell Henry Olcott' embraced Buddhism and joined with the Buddhist elite and established the 'Parama Vijnanartha' Buddhist society and created the Colombo 'Ananda Vidyalaya - Colombo 1886.11.01, Dharmaraja Vidyalaya - Kandy - 1887.06.31, Maliyadeva Vidyalaya. Kurunegala 1888.09.30, Dharmaduta Vidyalaya – Badulla 1891.08.21, Mahinda Vidyalaya – Galle 1892.03.01 through society. During that period, the 'Dharmaduta Union' was started across the country and a representative of the 'Black Missionary Union'.
‘Mudaliar DF Gunasekara' came to Badulla and joined with the Buddhist elites and started the 'Badulla Missionary Society'. The first president of this society was 'Muhandiram D.C. Kotalawala and the secretary was 'MR. WM Godawela, who worked as a translator in the Badulla court. In 1886, after seeing the danger of Catholic missionary education to the children of Badulla area, a student of 'William Jayasinghe', who was studying at the law school, left his studies and came to Badulla and started the 'Buddhist English High School'. This school has been started in a building in front of the 'Sanzi' studio on Badulla Pahala Raja Street. In the beginning, there were 6 students in this school. After that, Mr. William Jayasinghe became a member of the Badulla Missionary Society and handed over this educational institution founded by him in 1891. Muhandiram D.C. was the first manager of this institution. Mr. Kotalawala' was appointed and 'Muhandiram D.C. Mr. William Jayasinghe was the head. This school is registered as a government benefited school. Since this registration in 1984, the principal must be a qualified teacher. Therefore, 'Mr. William Jayasinghe' left that position and rejoined the law school to continue his education. Then 'Mr. Mr. DF Silva, a qualified teacher, was appointed as the head. It is understood that this school had 30 students when it was registered as a government school. Due to the increase in the number of students in the college, a new building was constructed on that land for 'Mr. DC Kothalawala. Donations for this were received from 'Mr. D.F Gunasekara and local Buddhist donors. 'Mr.'s' suggestion H.R. Gunawardena, who served as a Principal of this college (1941 to 1949) and alumni of the college, changed the name of the school to 'Dharmaduta College' in 1923, in memory of the founders of the 'Dharmaduta Sangeetha'. 'Mr. R.H Gunawardana' (Kotiya Sir) was an alumnus of this school and worked as a teacher in this school. After training he was appointed as the principal of this school. Expansion of the main hall from 70 feet to 101 feet, construction of two rooms on the western side, construction of two new buildings, upgrading of the school from primary level to secondary level etc. were the development activities that took place during his tenure with the support of the alumni. the area It was therefore a valuable period for the Missionary College. In 1960, the management of the school was changed and managed by a director. 'Mr. Mr. Gladwin Kotalawala is the last manager of this college. The Minister of Education announced order number 375 on 14.12.1961 and the school was taken over by the government. From 01.08.1963 the college was under the control of Govt. At that time there were 900 students and 44 staff. 'Mr. Mr. DL Jayasinghe, an alumnus of this college, was the principal. He worked as a teacher for some time and got the appointment of principal. During Mr. Jayasinghe's tenure as principal, all buildings such as the principal's office, the library, the main hall with a large stage (this is the biggest stage in Badulla) were demolished and a two-storied building was constructed. With 8 classrooms. (The building currently houses the office). The acquired schools were reorganized in 1964. As a result, the Tamil department of this college was closed and the Tamil students were sent to another school. The students who studied in the science section of this college were admitted to Badulla Maha Vidyalaya. After that Dharmadutha Vidyalaya was treated as a Sinhala medium school and taught only arts subjects. Classes were held up to high school. At the same time, the science section started again. A new laboratory was constructed for GCE C/L classes. D.L. Col. Jayalath was appointed as the Principal and attached to the Jayasinghe Education Ashram. During his time advanced classes in the science department were started. Henceforth our principles S.Y.I.S. Wickramasinghe, A.M. Karunaratne, A.M. Mr. Jinadasa Attanayake, P.A. Jayasundara, Mr. A.D. John, Mr. Chandra Ovitipana Jayathilaka, Mr. H.H. Gamini de Silva, Mr. M.M.W. Mr. De Silva did a great service in our college and developed the infrastructure. H.M. Mr. Senarath Bandara is our current principal. In the year 2020, 2360 students studied in this college and 140 staff members.
