COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s senior-most ‘kapuwa’, or shaman, was arrested Wednesday (27) over a bizarre case of breach of trust that involves a highly revered god and a fellow medium, the police said.

Somipala Ratnayake, the chief ‘kapuwa’, or shaman, at the Kataragama shrine for Lord Murugan, was taken into custody over a missing gold tray said to be worth over 6.4 million rupees ($20,000).

“He was arrested following a complaint that a gold ornament gifted to Lord Murugan had disappeared from the shrine under his watch two years ago,” a police official said.

He said Ratnayake, who is in his mid-80s, will be charged for “criminal breach of trust” over the loss of the gold tray which had been gifted to the god by a devotee many years ago.

The Tissamaharama Magistrate released Ratnayake on half a million rupees bail and ordered him to report to the Colombo Crime Division on the last Sunday of every month until the case is concluded.

A lay custodian of the shrine had raised the alarm over the loss in 2021.

However, a fellow shaman, Lal Arapaksha, maintained that any offerings to the gods belonged to the shamans according to a tradition maintained at the centuries-old shrine.

“The kapuwa who conducts a pooja (ritual) is entitled to any offerings.  There is no question of theft,” Arapaksha said.

“Sometimes a nail manufacturer would offer some of his products to Lord Murugan. What will he do with nails, so we either give it to a builder or turn it into cash. That is for the upkeep of the shrine,” he said, explaining that there are 10 kapuwas and each has about 20 to 30 helpers who have to be maintained with the offerings they receive from devotees.

Sri Lanka is predominantly Buddhist, a faith that does not typically recognize deities, but local practice incorporates elements of Hindu and animistic worship.

It is common for Buddhist priests to invoke the blessings of 330 million gods during their sermons, a reference to the Hindu pantheon.

Kataragama is highly venerated by Buddhists as well as the faithful from the minority Hindu, Muslim and Christian communities who believe in the power of Lord Murugan.

Police said Ratnayake will be taken to a court in the southern town of Tissamaharama, about 270 kilometres (168 miles) south of Colombo, which is also close to the Kataragama shrine.

Two months ago, a group of shamans staged a token strike over a pay dispute refusing to perform rituals at another shrine known for helping pilgrims place curses on their enemies.

-economynext.com