This plaque found at the entrance to the Olcott Hall of Mahinda College speaks volumes of memories of the late Mr. Ananda Samarakoon. He was blessed to sit at the feet of great gurudeva Pandith Rabindranath Tagore at Shantiniketan and to develop his latent talents in art and music and was much appreciated then and ever now. This song ‘Namo Namo Matha’, composed and first sung at the Olcott Hall by students of Mahinda College was later selected as the National Anthem of Independent Sri Lanka. Ananda Samarakoon was the art and music teacher at Mahinda from 1938 to 1942.