There was a significant Buddhist reawakening with the arrival of Colonel Henry Steel Olcott. Buddhist schools were established throughout the country to promote Buddhist education across with the prevailing missionary system. In 1881 there was a Buddhist reawakening as a result of the start of the newspapers Sarasavi Sandaresa in 1880 and The Buddhist in 1881. After that, the expansion of school education came under the Buddhist Theosophical Society. Karunarathna laid the foundation stone for the school on 26 July 1945. After completing the construction work of the buildings of Rathnavali Balika Vidyalaya, D. D. Karunaratne handed over the school to the Buddhist Theosophical Society.
