By Buddhika SamaraweeraVen. Dodampahala Chandrasiri Thera, who claims to be the Chief Incumbent of the Seruwila Mangala Raja Maha Viharaya, has sent a letter to the Commissioner General of Buddhist Affairs and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chandana D. Wickramaratne alleging that Ven. Aludeniye Subodhi Thera, who also claims to be the Chief Incumbent of the Viharaya, is in fact pretending to be the Chief Incumbent of said Temple, thereby misleading the public and officials.When contacted by The Morning, Ven. Chandrasiri Thera claimed that he was appointed as the Chief Incumbent of said Viharaya on 12 May, as per a decision made by the Executive Sangha Council of the Amarapura Sri Kalyaniwansa Chapter, to which said temple belongs.Adding that there is a committee called the “Chaithyawardana”, which makes certain decisions regarding the temple, the monk said that said committee had appointed Subodhi Thera as the Chief Incumbent, after which several disputes arose with regard to the matter.“When disputes arose regarding the temple, I, as the Chief Prelate of the Amarapura Kalyaniwansa Chapter, summoned the Executive Sangha Council and then a decision was made by the Council to appoint me as the Chief Incumbent until these disputes are resolved,” he also mentioned.He also said in the letter that his appointment as the Chief Incumbent was even accepted by the Department of Buddhist Religious Affairs. In the letter, the monk has requested the Commissioner General and the IGP to look into the matter and initiate necessary legal action.The post of the Chief Incumbent of the temple became vacant following the death of the former Chief Incumbent Ven. Munhene Meththananda Thera in India on 12 May.Attempts to contact Police Media Spokesman Deputy Inspector General of Police Ajith Rohana and the Seruwila Mangala Raja Maha Viharaya to inquire about the matter were unsuccessful.Meanwhile, the Chaithyawardana committee said, in a statement issued yesterday (27), that Subhodhi Thera, a senior student of the late Meththananda Thera, was appointed as the Chief Incumbent of the temple according to the tradition observed regarding such appointments and that the appointment was formally communicated to Chandrasiri Thera and the Commissioner General.It also stated that the Chief Prelate of the Amarapura Kalyaniwansa Chapter has accepted in an affidavit submitted to the Court of Appeal in 2017 that the Chaithyawardana committee has the powers to appoint the Chief Incumbent of the Viharaya. Accordingly, it further states that Subodhi Thera was acting as the Chief Incumbent legally since 16 May and that all other appointments to the said post are invalid.The Viharaya is on the Tentative List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNECSO), a list which is an inventory of properties of cultural and/or natural heritage of outstanding universal value that each State Party intends to consider for nomination as suitable for inscription on the World Heritage List.
