Few stories move Sri Lankans like a bus driver who gave his life to save his passengers. So, when a short clip showed Deputy Minister of Transport and Highways Prasanna Gunasena apparently saying that villagers built the Walapane Keerthi Bandara Devalaya for such a driver, it spread fast, and many viewers mocked the Deputy Minister for mixing up a centuries-old shrine with a recent accident. A ‘devalaya’ is a shrine dedicated to a deity, and the Keerthi Bandara shrine in Walapane is rooted in a folk legend from the days of the Kandyan kings.
The clip suggested he said that a Ceylon Transport Board (CTB) driver named Keerthi Bandara leaned a brake-failed bus against a hill a few years ago, died saving every passenger, and that the shocked villagers then built the ‘devalaya’ in his name. Here are the posts that carried it.
Social Media Posts:
In the viral video, the Deputy Minister appeared to say: “A year and a half or two years ago, a CTB driver’s bus lost its brakes and was about to fall down a precipice. It was full of people. But the driver leaned the bus against a hill. The driver died. Not a single passenger lost their life. That driver’s name was Keerthi Bandara. The villagers were shocked. They thought, even though we have lost this young man, the village should have his blessing and power, so they built a ‘devalaya’. The name of that ‘devalaya’ is Walapane Keerthi Bandara.”
Facebook | Facebook | Facebook | Facebook | Facebook
Claim examined: That Deputy Minister Prasanna Gunasena said villagers built the Walapane Keerthi Bandara Devalaya for a CTB driver named Keerthi Bandara, who died a few years ago after leaning a brake-failed bus against a hill to save his passengers.
Fact Check:
No mainstream media outlet or credible official source had reported the Deputy Minister making such a statement.
We found the full video of the event. It showed that the viral clip was a misleading edit of a speech Deputy Minister Prasanna Gunasena gave to drivers and conductors on September 11, 2025. The edit, about 35 seconds long, completely changed the meaning of what he said. Here is the full video.
The Ministry of Transport and the Deputy Minister’s official social media pages posted videos of the event under the headline “The government will intervene to protect the professional dignity of transport sector workers – Deputy Minister of Transport and Highways Prasanna Gunasena.” You can watch them here and here.
This is what he actually said: (Translated to English)
“In Walapane, in the Nuwara Eliya district, there is a ‘devalaya’ built in one person’s name. It was built many years ago, but I think it is still worshipped today. It is still active and respected by the people of the area. It was built because of one of those stories from the days of the kings. In the king’s time, a young man incurred the king’s wrath for a wrong he did not commit. The king ordered that this strong young man be pushed off a high cliff and killed. The king’s men seized him and pushed him off the cliff for a wrong he never committed.
But as the story goes, thanks to merit from his past life, he got caught in the vines and survived. He could not go back to his own village, because he had incurred the king’s wrath. So, he went down and settled in a new village, cultivated the fields as people did in those days, and made the area prosperous. He won the love of the villagers. As the story goes, unity grew and the fear of disease disappeared. That is the kind of story it is. In the end, the young man suddenly died for some reason. The villagers were shocked. They thought, even though we have lost this young man, the village should have his blessing and power, so they built a ‘devalaya’. What is the name of that ‘devalaya’? What is its name? Walapane Keerthi Bandara.
A year and a half or two years ago, a CTB driver’s bus lost its brakes and was about to fall down a precipice. It was full of people. But the driver leaned the bus against a hill. The driver died. But as far as I remember, not a single passenger lost their life. What was that driver’s name? Keerthi Bandara. So, comrades, you know, and you can feel that through your profession you too can rise even to divinity. If that young man in the past could make a village prosperous, become a deity, and still receive offerings, imagine a young man who saves so many lives. Let us call him a young man. So, every driver and every conductor must build the belief within themselves that they too can reach that position.”
The Full Speech Told Two Separate Stories
In the full video, the Deputy Minister used two separate events as examples.
The Legend of the Historic Keerthi Bandara Devalaya
He first said that the Keerthi Bandara Devalaya in Walapane, Nuwara Eliya district, was built in the days of the kings and is still venerated by the people of the area. He described a strong young man who incurred the king’s wrath for a wrong he did not commit and was ordered to be pushed off a cliff. He survived by getting caught in vines, moved to a new village, cultivated its fields, made the area prosperous, ended the fear of disease, and won the villagers’ love. When he later died suddenly, the villagers remembered his service and built the Walapane Keerthi Bandara Devalaya.
The Recent Heroic Act of an SLTB Driver
He then recalled a real incident from a few years earlier. When the brakes of a crowded CTB bus failed, driver Keerthi Bandara leaned it against a hill instead of letting it plunge down a precipice and gave his own life to save his passengers.
The Real Message: Honouring Transport Workers
The main aim of the speech was to honour the professional dignity and dedication of drivers and conductors. Just as a young man who served a village in the past became a deity and still receives offerings, he said, drivers and conductors who risk their own lives for others can earn that kind of ‘divinity’, or the highest respect in society, through honest service. He urged them to believe they could reach that standing through their profession.
How the Clip Was Edited
The 35-second clip removed the historical background of the Walapane ‘devalaya’, the part saying it was built in the days of the kings, the story of the young man cultivating the fields, and the closing message that tied both stories together to honour drivers and conductors.
It took his remark about the CTB driver from a few years ago and joined it straight to the line from the legend: “The villagers were shocked… they built a ‘devalaya’. The name of that ‘devalaya’ is Walapane Keerthi Bandara.” This splice completely distorted the original meaning and produced a video stripped of its context.
The video below shows how the edit was made.
Deputy Minister’s Coordinating Secretary Confirms the Clip Was Spliced
When we contacted the Coordinating Secretary to the Deputy Minister of Transport and Highways, he said the Deputy Minister made no statement carrying the meaning shown in the short clip. He said the viral video was an edit that joined two separate incidents from the Deputy Minister’s speech.
Driver Keerthi Bandara Saved 22 Passengers in 2018
In a fatal accident on the Haputale–Beragala road in 2018, the bus’s brakes failed. Driver H. M. Keerthi Bandara Padmasiri gave his life and saved all 22 passengers. Realising the bus could plunge into a precipice more than 1,000 feet deep, he made the brave decision to crash it into an earth bank and rock face beside the road. The impact wrecked the front of the bus and he died on the spot, but every passenger survived. The Foundation for Civilian Bravery honoured him nationally and awarded him a civilian bravery award posthumously. More details here and here.
The Historic Keerthi Bandara Devalaya Dates Back to the Kandyan Kings
The history of the Keerthi Bandara Devalaya comes from folklore, and the legend is told in several versions. According to one, Keerthi Bandara Deviyo was Tikiri Banda (or Kiri Banda), a virtuous farmer from Walapane who lived during the reign of King Kirti Sri Rajasinha in the Kandyan period and died after being wronged. He worked hard to cultivate a paddy field called Katupathwala and reaped a fine harvest. When word came that the king was coming to honour him, a false rumour spread among the villagers that the king was coming to seize the field. Fearing he would lose the field he had cultivated with blood and tears, the young man either took his own life in front of the king or later paid with his life on false charges of conspiracy. Because of his innocence and deep anguish, he is believed to have become a powerful guardian deity of the area after his death.
Moved by this, the king built a historic shrine for him in Walapane called the Galkotuwa Devalaya, also known as the Danagamuwa Devalaya, and arranged for rituals there. The original shrine site was later submerged by the Randenigala Reservoir under the Mahaweli Development Programme, so the shrine was rebuilt at Keerthibandarapura in Walapane, near the reservoir, and opened to devotees. More details here and here.
Join us to learn more about our fact-check investigations.
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Google News | TikTok
Conclusion:
The viral video claiming Deputy Minister of Transport Prasanna Gunasena said the Walapane Keerthi Bandara Devalaya was built for Keerthi Bandara, a CTB bus driver who died in an accident, is edited and false. His full speech to drivers and conductors on September 11, 2025 contained two separate stories. The first was the legend of the historic Walapane Keerthi Bandara Devalaya, which villagers built in the days of the kings for a wronged young man who cultivated their land and served them. The second was the selfless act of SLTB driver Keerthi Bandara, who leaned a brake-failed bus against a hill in 2018 and gave his life to save his passengers.
The Deputy Minister’s real purpose was to honour transport workers, saying that just as a young man who served his village became a deity, drivers and conductors who protect passengers’ lives can earn the highest respect through their dedication. The 35-second clip removed that context and the historical background and joined the driver’s remark to the line about building the shrine. His Coordinating Secretary also confirmed the clip was a splice. The Deputy Minister did not say the shrine was built for the bus driver.
