The satyagraha at Colombo’s Viharamahadevi Park demanding the release of Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero ran for about ten days. It was temporarily called off on October 25, 2026, after a written notice from the Mahanayake Theros of the three Nikayas.
With feelings still running high, video clips and images of Most Ven. Kiribathgoda Gnanananda Thero began spreading fast. In them, he lamented “how helpless our nation has become” and prayed for a Sinhala Buddhist king. Many shared them as his response to what is happening today. So, did he say this recently? Here is how the posts spread.
Social Media Posts:
Posts were shared with this caption: “Our nation has become so helpless that the traitors run from the top all the way down – Kiribathgoda Thero.”
Claim Under Investigation:
That in October 2026, Kiribathgoda Gnanananda Thero said the nation had become helpless, that there were traitors from top to bottom, and prayed for a Sinhala Buddhist king who could subdue anti-Buddhist forces.
Fact Check:
The Video Is From 2019
We ran frames from the video through a reverse image search. It led us to the full sermon, posted on the Shraddha TV YouTube channel on September 17, 2019, seven years ago, under the title “Siri Dampal Abhinandana | Full Programme”. The video runs for more than four hours, and Gnanananda Thero’s sermon runs from about 4:24:44 to 4:42:48.
The Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery’s official website says the event was organized to mark the 155th birth anniversary of Anagarika Dharmapala. It was held on September 14, 2019, at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium in Colombo, and about 5,000 young parents and their children took part (here). A shot of the hall in the video shared on October 24 also clearly shows the commemorative “155” logo behind the stage.
Put the viral clip next to the frame at around 4:28 in the original video and the match is clear: the same row of microphones, the same logos, the same robe, and the same backdrop. The Reel zooms in on only the upper part of the original footage. That cuts out the floral decoration, the Shraddha logo and the commemorative emblem bearing Dharmapala’s portrait at the bottom. In other words, the very clues that would have dated the footage were cropped out.
The “Helpless Nation” Remark and the Prayer for a King Come From the Same Sermon
At around 4:28:53 in the original video, the Thero spoke about how helpless the nation had become. He then said Buddhist businesspeople lacked unity and that there were traitors “from the top right down to the bottom”. The captions on the viral videos were built from these parts.
The prayer, “May this Sri Lanka be blessed with a Sinhala Buddhist king who can subdue anti-Buddhist forces and uplift the Buddha Sasana,” comes only between 4:31:20 and 4:32:23. It was part of a prayer recited together with the congregation, invoking the Triple Gem, the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi, the Ruwanweli Maha Seya and the deities. Merit was then shared with the deities, the three armed forces, the war heroes and Anagarika Dharmapala.
So, the words in the viral videos and posts were not fabricated. The problem is that the date and the occasion were stripped away, and the clips were presented as if he had said them recently.
The Sermon Was Delivered About Two Months Before the 2019 Presidential Election
In September 2019, when this sermon was delivered, Sri Lanka was governed by the ‘Yahapalana’ (good governance) administration of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, which had been in power since January 2015. About five months had passed since the Easter Sunday attacks of April 21 that year.
The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) named Gotabaya Rajapaksa as its presidential candidate on August 11, 2019 (here). On September 18, four days after this sermon, the Election Commission announced that the presidential election would be held on November 16, with nominations accepted on October 7 (here).
So, the prayer for “a true leader” was made as a presidential election was drawing near but had not yet been officially called. In the section we examined, the Thero did not name any party or candidate.
The Country’s Leadership Has Changed Three Times Since Then
Gotabaya Rajapaksa became President on November 17, 2019, and resigned on July 14, 2022. Ranil Wickremesinghe then held the office from July 20, 2022, to September 22, 2024, and Anura Kumara Dissanayake has been President since September 22, 2024.
The 2019 remarks about a helpless nation and traitors were made while a different government was in power. They were not a statement about the present government.
None of the Posts Mentioned 2019 or the Dharmapala Commemoration
None of the viral posts we examined mentioned the “Siri Dampal Abhinandana” event or the year 2019. As a result, a speech given at an Anagarika Dharmapala commemoration seven years ago was shared in a way that led users to believe it was the Thero’s response to events in 2026.
The posts surfaced while two debates were heating up on social media: the protest demanding Gnanasara Thero’s release, and the controversy over the pinnacle-placing ceremony at the Mihintale Mihindu Maha Seya on October 18, 2026. The United National Party (UNP) alleged that the visiting Thai Deputy Prime Minister had not received proper diplomatic courtesies at that ceremony, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ clarification is here. Because the restoration of the Mihindu Maha Seya began on October 24, 2020, with the support of the Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery, Kiribathgoda Gnanananda Thero’s name came up often in these discussions.
No Record of the Thero Commenting on Current Events
We reviewed October news reports on the march and satyagraha for Gnanasara Thero’s release, along with social media posts linked to Kiribathgoda Gnanananda Thero. Over that period, the official Facebook page of the Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery posted only Dhamma content such as meditation guidance, sermons, and children’s stories (here).
As of November 2, 2026, we found no record of the Thero publicly commenting on the Gnanasara Thero issue, the Mihintale ceremony, the current government, or these videos.
Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery Says the Videos Are Misleading
We contacted the Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery for the Thero’s view. A monk there told us the videos were misleading and that the monastery had reported their recent circulation to Facebook. He said a statement Kiribathgoda Gnanananda Thero made at a 2019 Anagarika Dharmapala commemoration was being shared as if it were about the current government. He added that the Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery did not hold such a critical view of the present government.
Sharing an Old Sermon Is Fine, but Dropping the Date Misleads
The words are Thero’s own, and many who share them do so out of respect for his views. But posting a speech made in 2019, under a different government and in a different setting, without its date leads readers to believe he said it about the situation today.
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Conclusion:
The clips of Kiribathgoda Gnanananda Thero saying the nation is “helpless” and praying for a Sinhala Buddhist king were not recorded in 2026. The full Shraddha TV video and the Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery confirm they are excerpts from a sermon at the “Siri Dampal Abhinandana” event, held on September 14, 2019, at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium to mark Anagarika Dharmapala’s 155th birth anniversary, about two months before the 2019 presidential election.
The words are genuine, but sharing them without their date and occasion, in the middle of current events, makes these posts misleading.
