Dharmaraja College, 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 m) 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 Steele Olcott, philanthropist and the founder of the Buddhist Theosophical Society.