A special team from the Auditor General’s Department arrived at the Ruhunu Kataragama Maha Devalaya yesterday (05) morning, reportedly on the direct orders of the President, and initiated an audit of its head office.
According to the Vihara Devalaya Act, any audit of the Devalaya should be conducted only at the request of the Commissioner General of Buddhist Affairs. However, it has emerged that even the Commissioner General was unaware of the audit until he was informed by the Basnayake Nilame of the Kataragama Maha Devalaya.
Sources reveal that the audit team was dispatched following a directive from the Presidential Secretariat, prompted by a complaint filed by Chief Kapu Dhurandara Somipala Ratnayake of the Ruhunu Kataragama Maha Devalaya. A team of officers from the Monaragala Audit Office, acting on instructions from the Auditor General, arrived at the temple and conducted audit proceedings until yesterday (05) afternoon.
The investigation stems from allegations against the head priest of the Devalaya, who is accused of misappropriating a gold plate entrusted to the temple by the wife of notorious underworld figure Angoda Lokka. However, officials working at the Devalaya have asserted to the audit team that the monthly allowances received by each priest from the temple’s offerings are not subject to external audit.
Furthermore, it was highlighted during the inquiry that all donations received by the Basnayake Nilame’s office are published transparently on the temple’s website.
Despite the legal requirement for the Commissioner General of Buddhist Affairs to authorize such an audit, it has been confirmed that he was neither consulted nor informed before the audit was initiated.
