A. Subba Rao (that was how he signed his name in English) was born at Mulky, a small city towards the north of Mangalore, on 19th November, 1852, the youngest of four brothers. His father, Mr. Upendra Pai, who started his profession as a pleader at Kaup, had shifted his practice to the court at Mulky several years earlier.

As a boy, Subba Rao was known to be mischievous, mediocre in studies, fond of play, a ringleader among the boys. But he was deeply respectful towards his elders and his esteem for his father amounted to reverence.

After the death of Subba Rao?s mother, for the sake of the children?s education, Upendra Pai shifted to Mangalore in 1864. Subba Rao was admitted to Government High School (then called the Provincial School). The loss of his mother had brought a profound change in him. He applied himself seriously to his studies. A new earnestness seized him. As a result Subba Rao stood high in the Matriculation examination and then in F.A. Examination. In addition to studies, he was regular in his "Sandhyavandana" and "Deva Pooja" which he did both morning and evening. Because of this intense worship, the inner life of the man began to blossom.

When Subba Rao passed the B.A. examination, his father decided to send him to Madras for the Degree course. In those days, travelling to Madras was very difficult because, the train from Madras stopped at Salem and one had to travel from Mangalore to Salem by bullock-cart, and there were many ferries to cross-and Subba Rao was not even 18 years old.

Thus, in 1870, Subba Rao got admission to the Presidency College, Madras. There he came under the influence of great educators that manned the staff.

Subba Rao won the second rank at the B.A. examination, and then joined the Madras Law College. There he came in contact with Justice H. Holloway, who was a remarkable personality. To Subba Rao, this contact proved a rewarding experience. Subba Rao topped the list of successful candidates at the B.L. examination. Then for a short time he came home. He spent his time teaching the children in the Gokarn Math School. He then returned to Madras and worked as an apprentice under Mr. H. H. Shepherd (who later rose to be a judge of the Madras High Court).

At the end of the period of apprenticeship, Subba Rao enrolled at the Madras High Court, and prepared to settle down to practise. This plan was cut short by the sudden death of his father at Mangalore in 1876.

Subba Rao shifted from Madras and set up practice at the Mangalore Bar, where he soon made a mark and rose to the top at a time when the Bar had a galaxy of brilliant lawyers.

To Subba Rao, law was both a profession and a mission. It was a part of life. He saw life as an integral whole, and there were no compartments. Quite early, he saw that criminal suits often involved a deliberate side tracking of truth, and confined his legal practice to civil suits. Even here, he had experience of the bitterness caused by litigation, and so he made every effort to settle differences out of court, by reasoning and by gentle persuasion, even though this meant loss of income to him as a lawyer. His arguments in the court, which were always brief but complete, reflected his love of truth and his faith in the essential goodness of man. Those who listened to him spoke of his full voice, and of his eloquence in English, Kannada and Tulu.

Subba Rao?s versatility could not be confined to the legal profession. He did his professional work in the mornings and at nights. The evenings were devoted to social work. Every progressive movement got his support. He kept himself fully informed about the fast - changing world. His zeal and his love of mankind touched life at all points. Progressive movements like the removal of untouchability, the theosophical movement, and youth activities got his unstinted support. He was grieved at the lethargy of the people towards education, and realized that there was no future for the people without widespread general education and higher education in technical subjects and in medicine.

At Madras again...

As per the instructions of his brother, Subba Rao went to Madras to practise at the Madras High Court. One day four young men, who were at their studies in Madras called on him and put before him the idea of starting a High School in Mangalore. He discussed this idea with them, probed their minds in the process, and assured them of his full support. Subba Rao decided to encourage these young men for themselves as well as for the welfare of the people in Mangalore.

In 1888, when Subba Rao got a very severe attack of gout; the doctors advised him to leave Madras since the climate evidently did not suit him. This made Subba Rao to involve himself completely in the proposed project.

Back at Mangalore Finally...

Thus in 1889, Subba Rao returned to Mangalore, and resumed his profession at the Mangalore Bar. From then on, all his spare time was turned to service. Amidst the deep pain of Gout, he continued to be a cheerful personality with a constant smile on his face.

The four young teachers he had met at Madras were in Mangalore in 1891; they were joined by a fifth. These five started the Canara High School in June of that year. However they found the need to form a Managing Committee, and they naturally turned to Subba Rao. The latter, in a characteristic gesture, approached Mangalore Ramachandrayya and requested him to take the lead and be the President of the Committee.

In 1894, even while he was working to stabilize the Canara High School, Subba Rao started the Canara Girls' School and devoted a considerable part of his spare hours to foster this institution.

In those days, there were just four other High Schools in South Kanara (three of them in Mangalore), and none at all in the whole of Coorg. Because a lot many number of students were arriving from far off places, Subba Rao thought of a hostel where these boys could properly be cared for. Thus the Canara Hostel was started in 1904 with support from temples like Srimad Anantheshwar Temple, Majeshwar and Sri Venkatramana Temple at Mulky and Bantwal etc.

Some more feathers in his cap...

Subba Rao had always been encouraging young men to take to the professional courses of Engineering and Medicine. Because of his enormous efforts, in the next two decades, our young men were seen holding high offices both in the Engineering and Medical services.

When the Arbuthnot Company crashed, many families lost their savings. Subba Rao foresaw disaster ahead if the community did not mobilize its own resources to help itself. The result was the starting in 1906 of the Canara Hindu Permanent Fund Ltd., which later became the Canara Bank.

Subba Rao was very self reliant himself, and had love for literature. Because of his grasp in Kannada, the Madras University appointed him as Examiner in Kannada for the B.A. Examination.

Subba Rao also initiated the formation of Gowda Saraswath Brahman Parishad, an organisation consisting of people from the Gowda Saraswath Brahman community. The resolve of the committee was to raise a fund called ?Poor Boys Education Fund? to help the education of the deserving but poor students of the Community. Subba Rao, who became the Chairman of the Parishad, himself travelled to the north of the District. He was compelled to return home when he was struck by a very severe attack of gout.

The severity of the attack increased, and Subba Rao suddenly passed away on 25th July, 1909 leaving lots of his fans, friends, worshippers, relatives in the ocean of sadness.

The funeral procession had people of all communities and religions. All old rules of orthodoxy were broken; boys, whose parents were alive, walked with the hearse to the crematorium and watched the flames lick up the body; and mothers held up their children to enable them to view the body as it was carried past their doors.

Thus Subba Rao shrugged off his mortal remains, and became a living soul!

The Pioneers wanted to build a School which would integrate the ancient Indian Culture with modern Scientific and Technological Growth - education in its completeness. The Vedic Mantra Vidhya Kamadugha (Vidhya is a Kamadhenu, which gives you whatever you desire) was a crystallization of this ideal.

This naturally led to the selection of the recumbent Kamadhenu as pictured in the Puranas as the Emblem of the School. The Kamadhenu rests under the Kalpataru with all the signia of royalty like the crown, the elephant, the umbrella, etc., depicted in the tree. Also seen in the Emblem are the Vedic mantra Vidya Kamadugha and quotation from the Upanishad as uttered by the Guru to the departing shishya: Satyam vada Dharmam chara. This instruction from the Guru provides a rule of conduct that even today cannot be improved upon.

The Puranic story of the Kamadhenu is itself of interest. Kamadhenu, the divine cow in swarga-loka (heaven), is the giver of whatever one desires. It came out of the Ocean of Milk (Ksheera Sagara) at the time of the Great Churning by the God (Suras) and Demons (Asuras). The cow was presented to the Seven Sages by the Gods, and, in course of time, came into the possession of Sage Vasishta.

Kamadhenu's complexion is like the white clouds. Its four legs symbolize the Four Vedas, and its teats the four purusharthas. Kamadhenu is also well-known through its other five forms: Nanda, Sunanda, Surabhi, Susheela and Sumana.

30th June 1891, this day should be written in golden letters, because it was on this auspicious day that the seed of "CANARA", a great Educational Institution was sown by that great soul Sri A. Subba Rao Pai who along with four visionaries did this noble job.

In 1888-89, four youngmen who were at their studies in Madras, had dreamt of this great venture. They approached Sri A. Subba Rao Pai who was also interested in making their dreams a reality. Since the depth of their convictions happened to tally with his own thoughts on the subject, he promised them his full support.

Early in 1891 the young teachers with starlight in their eyes set about to start the School in close consultation with Subba Rao Pai. First, they sought the blessings of Srimad Vardendra Thirtha Swamiar of Sri Kashi Mutt Samsthan at his camp, then at Moodabidri. The blessings of the Swamiar have been with the School all these years and their influence has been visible at every critical turn.

The Canara High School came into being on 30th June 1891 in a rented building facing the Kodialbail Church. The School had the Emblem of Kamadhenu and the Motto of Satyamvada-Dharmamchara which have been the guiding star to follow.

The ”Proprietor Teachers” worked with idealism, but without any other assets. The Foundation Teachers had really sacrificed the highly paid posts of other institutions and put in their dedicated service to the growth of the school. The expenditure was met by Subba Rao Pai and his friends. Looking back over these 110 years, one is struck by the fact that the Institution, now grown into three High Schools, three Primary Schools and two Colleges, and offering education from the K.G. to the Degree to over 6500 boys and girls, continues to this day wihout any working capital. Like a tree that depends on continous supply of life from earth, the Institution has been sustained by the Old Students and friends, generation after generation - and, of course, by divine grace.

The staff and students were together even after school hours, the bond of learning strengthened to bring glory to the Alma Mater. At the matriculation examination in 1893, the first batch bagged the first three Ranks (or Places) in the then Madras Presidency and the school shot into fame.

This tradition continued. As a remarkable gift to the Centenary year, the school bagged 2 ranks in the Public Examination of S.S.L.C. in 1991. This glorious tradition continued thereafter.

The dedicated service of foundation teachers attracted students in the evenings even after school hours. Even after passing out of the school the students spent their evenings in the school premises with their teachers. This gave birth to the Old Students' Union in 1895. The members conducted debates, ran a reading room and enacted dramas. In November 1900 they organised a drama in aid of the Central Hindu College at Banaras which was then the focus of national endeavour in Education. Half the proceeds of the drama went to the College and the other half was donated to the School.

Head master Vasudeva Rao, an Ex-Officio President of the Union appealed to the Old Boys Union in 1907 for donations for the establishment of an "Old Boys Endowment" for the school. A sum of Rs. 7,000/- was collected and handed over. Since then, it is this strong bond between the Old Boy's Union and the Alma Mater that has been a matter of envy to others. Every year in the month of December the Old Boys' day is being celebrated to mark the bondage of love, existing between the school and the Alumni.

This Hall, named after the Guru of Srimad Varadendra Thirtha, embodies in every way the soul of the School. It was constructed in 1895 under the direct supervision of Foundation Teacher Srinivas Rao. The Hall has been visited by many of the National Leaders. Mahatma Gandhi and Rajendra Prasad were among them.

Sanskrit was introduced as a compulsory subject from Forms I to III from the very beginning. In the higher forms the departmental syllabus was followed. When education was in English Medium the school opened a Kannada Medium section which was continued until the Government policy for aided schools made English Medium an exception rather than a rule.



Urdu was introduced as a first language when Muslim students came to the school. In one particular year, when there was a student with Malayalam as first language, provision was made for teaching this language as well.

Teaching of Science secured priority from the beginning of 1920. The laboratory was fully equipped. Among the science courses offered, the optionals were Physics, Chemistry, Botany and Physiology.

From the early days, provision was made for financial assistance to poor students by building up both academic and work scholarship funds. The admission of Harijan students into the school in 1930 passed off almost unnoticed. A couple of them who were good at English were drawn into the cast chosen for the annual day entertainment. The games peon, a Harijan, supplied drinking water to boys on the games field. He was so popular that he often accompanied students on class excursions.

CANARA HOSTEL

Established : 1904

About 1900, the boys from the Mofussil areas were coming to Mangalore for their High School and College studies- a number of them were from Kodagu too. They lived in rented rooms or "lodges" and relied on hotels for food. Subba Rao Pai thought that these students who were far away from the comforts of their homes should be well looked after, and with the kind help of Srimad Anantheshwara Temple at Manjeshwar, the Sri Venkataraman Temple at Mulky and Bantwal, the Canara Hostel came into existence.

The hostel facilities were used from the early 1930?s to give midday meals to the "day-students" of the school coming from Manjeshwar, Kumbla, Konchady and other places - who came either by train or trudged the distance. These students were provided meals at concessional rates. To subsidize the food for these day-students, a fund named "Prem Ghar Fund" was formed.

In 1922, about one acre of ground adjoining the school premises was acquired under the Land Acquisition Act. Part of this belonged to the Memon Mosque. Later, when Muslim students came to the school, the Mosque donated about one acre. Thus, the school had acquired the whole island between the roads, with the exception of a plot used as Bohra Burial ground, and adjacent to it a building, belonging to the Brahmo Samaj.



Even in the early 1930s the strength of the Canara High School passed 1000. The admission of girls swelled the strength further till it reached 1850 in 1943.

Part of the increase was due to the exodus of families from Madras during World War II, when there was danger from German Submarines. The Canara High School was one of the few schools that admitted all students that came, and the District Educational Officer, recorded in his Inspection Report his appreciation of this gesture. This caused a severe strain on finances since it meant the construction of rooms and provision of additional furniture.

Even without this exodus the increase in the boys and girls coming from the northern part of the city led Madhava Rao to think of a branch of the school in Urva. He spent some evening scouting for a suitable site across the Kodialguthu fields upto the then built-up area in Gandhinagar. Some senior teachers went with him. The conversation eventually turned round to a housing colony for teachers between the Canara High School and this branch.

It is of interest that in 1947, a proposal was sent to the Co-operative Department for forming a Building Society for the Staff, but the proposal was turned down by the Department. The time was not ripe. In recent years, the Canara College staff took the initiative in forming the 'Canara Co-operative Housing Society Ltd.' and have set up two flat complexes (The Kamadhenu & Kalpatharu flats).

JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS

The Silver Jubilee Celebrations : 1916

One is struck with wonder when one looks back at the history of an institution which has completed a century. One should recall those memories of the past when the school witnessed old boys pouring in their thousands to see their Alma Mater gaining in strength day by day.

A Silver Jubilee Commemoration Fund was opened, with the Headmaster as President. The Secretary was Mr. M. Madhava Rao, a young advocate. This brought in a person of the calibre of Sri A. Subba Rao Pai, to serve the school. His personal contribution in this respect places him next only to the Founder. He initiated the collection process by contributing Rs. 50/- to the Fund.

The Golden Jubilee : 1941

The celebrations of the Golden Jubilee was inaugurated in 1940 by Srimad Sukriteendra Swamiar of Sri Kashi Mutt. The celebrations included an exhibition and the Annual and Jubilee day.

The Souvenir printed on the occasion was a donation by the Mangalore Trading Association (The Sharada Press).

The Diamond Jubilee : 1951

The open air stage which was ready for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations was a gift of Kudpi Srinivas Shenoy of New Taj Mahal Cafe. The construction was closely supervised in sun and rain by Kasturi Devadas Pai. The Donor desired it to be named as the Sri Sukriteendra Kala Mandir and the Swamiar of Sri Kashi Mutt had agreed to declare it open and to unveil a portrait of Kudpi Vasudeva Shenoy, the donor's elder brother. The Swamiar however, was held up on the way and he sent instructions that the function should go on. The Kala Mandir was dedicated and then handed over to the school.

The Jubilee Celebrations covered seven days including a "Staff Day" and the 'Co-operative Society Day'. A Souvenir was published on the occasion.

The Platinum Jubilee: 1961

The celebration was presided by Swami Adidevanandaji, President, Sri Ramakrishna Ashram, Mangalore. It was in January 1958 that the idea of a Platinum Jubilee celebration had crystalized.

The first Jubilee Celebrations saw the construction of six class rooms and the Auditorium cum Recreation Hall at C. H. S. Urva. On March 6th, 1960, the foundation stone for the new building was laid by Sri M. Madhava Rao. The building was completed in 1961. H. H. Srimad Sudhindra Thirtha Swamiar of Sri Kashi Mutt Samsthan was approached to declare it open. The function was held on 19th July 1961. The Jubilee was celebrated with remarkable enthusiasm on the commemoration day. A souvenir was released.

The Years 1961 to 1991:

During these years the High Schools became Higher Secondary Schools and the 11th standard or P. U. C. was separated from the High Schools to form a separate 'Junior College'. The new building of C.H.S. Main was used to house the Higher Secondary School.

The progress from 1970 to 1990 in the history of C. H. S. was the growth of its branches, viz. the two colleges, the Canara Junior College and Canara Senior College which will be dealt with separately

Introduction: " An institution grows in the shadow of the founder". True to this statement, our school has stepped into 21st century with a vigor, having completed 110 years. It has a tradition of dedicated service by the teachers, hard work and academic excellence by the students who has secured high results in the public examinations.

The school has good infrastructure facilities like science lab play ground and library etc. The school maintains a good relationship with parents.

The school provides all types of curricular and co-curricular activities for the all round development of the personality of the students. There are various clubs in the school like Science club, Interact club, Kannada Sangha, the Konkani club, N.C.C, Scouts etc.., The students of the school participate in the competitions conducted by the school in great enthusiasm

The Principal

At present Mr. S.Umesh Mallya is the principal of the school. It is his dedicated service to the school which has brought us to the top.