A statement made by the Diyawadana Nilame, Nilanga Dela Bandara?

The exhibition ‘Dalada Dakma’, which was held after 16 years, was held from April 18^th to 27^th. However, a certain crisis situation arose with the arrival of a large group of devotees in Kandy city for the ‘Dalada Dakma’, and various opinions regarding it were shared among people.

In this context, a social media post was circulated containing a statement issued by the Diyawadana Nilame, Pradeep Nilanga Dela Banda, and we conducted a fact-finding investigation regarding it.

Social Media:

A social media post was shared with the statement, “When the President suddenly asked for a display of the Tooth Relic, I told him that the given time is not a suitable auspicious time for it. The Tooth Relic should be brought out in an auspicious time. Otherwise, the entire country will be ruined”, claiming that it was a statement issued by the Diyawadana Nilame Pradeep Nilanga Dela Bandara.

(“ජනාධිපතිතුමා දළඳා ප්‍රදර්ශනයක් කරන්න කියලා හදිසියේම ඉල්ලුවාම මම එතුමාට පැවසුවා මේ ඒකට සුදුසු නැකත් නැති කාලයක් කියලා. දළඳා වහන්සේ මඟුල් නැකතකින් එළියට වඩම්මන්න ඕන. නැත්නම් රටටම වස් වදිනවා.”)

Fb | Archive

Accordingly, we conducted an investigation to check whether this a statement made by the Diyawadana Nilame and to check whether it is an inappropriate time for the exhibition.

Fact Check :

If Pradeep Nilanga Dela Bandara Diyawadana Nilame, made a statement like that it would be reported through mainstream media, and also would create a heated debate in the society.

However, any of the main stream media haven’t reported on such a statement by him.

Although it was stated that he made this statement on May 13^th, we did not find any report or a credible source reporting on it.

The Media division of the Temple of Tooth Relic

We inquired about this from the media division of the Temple of Tooth Relic, and they stated that this is a completely fake social media post and that various individuals are spreading false information for their own purposes.

They have also made an announcement regarding this on their official Facebook page.

They further stated that a specific auspicious time is not used during the offering to the Buddha.

A specific auspicious time is used only in certain occasions like temple festivals and processions, but they are never used during the offering to Buddha.

During the Dalada Perahera, only the stepping on the ‘Sandagala’ is done at an auspicious time, and an auspicious time is used in other rituals such as in ‘Planting of Kapa’, because they are conducted through the ‘devalaya’. However, performing rituals and offering to the tooth relic, does not take place according to an auspicious time.

Choosing a date for the exhibition of the Tooth Relic, is not a sole decision of the Diyawadana Nilame. The media division stated that it is chosen after discussing with Malwathu and Asgiri Thero, and the relevant appropriate date is chosen. They stated that it is not a matter of determining a date based on an auspicious time.

Cultural activities (‘thevava’) at the Temple of Tooth Relic take place at 5.00 am, 9.00 am, and 5.30 pm. As it is a traditional practice, the rituals are held at the prescribed times, preserving the culture, and the exhibition of the Tooth Relic has been carried out by managing the time without disrupting those rituals.

However, the starting time of the exhibition which was at 12 noon was lifted up to 11 am, because of the increase in the crowd during the last days, and the media division stated that it was also not done according to an auspicious time, but after discussing with the Malwathu, Asgiri thero and the Diyawadana Nilame.

The media division of the Temple of the Tooth Relic has posted a statement in their official Facebook account stating that the shared post about a statement issued by the Diyawadana Nilame is fabricated.

fb | Achived

Also, this shared post was constructed according to the post format of ‘Sundari’ Facebook account, but when we checked their page we could’nt find such a post.

When we asked the admin of the Facebook page, he told us that such a post was not posted on their Facebook page.

Presidential Media Division

We inquired this from the Presidential Media Division, and they stated that such a discussion between the Diyawadana Nilame and the President did not take place.

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Conclusion :

The circulated post with a statement claiming to be issued by the Diyawadana Nilame Pradeep Nilanga Dela is a fabricated post. The Media Division of the Temple of the Tooth Relic states that the statement is false and baseless, and there is not official source or a report that has issued such a statement.