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.