The Most Venerable Keppetiyagoda Siriwimala Nayaka Thera, Anunayaka of the Sri Lanka Ramanna Maha Nikaya and chief incumbent of the Rajopawanaramaya temple at Gatambe, Kandy, has died, the Daily Mirror reported at 1.45 p.m. on Sunday.
He was 95.
The Nayaka Thera had been ill for some time and died while receiving treatment at a hospital in Kandy, Hiru News reported at 1.49 p.m.
Hiru identifies his position within the order more precisely than the Daily Mirror does: he was Anunayaka — the deputy prelate — of the Maha Vihara lineage of the Sri Lanka Ramanna Maha Nikaya, one of the principal monastic fraternities of Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhism.
A note on the spellings and the age
Both outlets filed within four minutes of each other and agree on every substantive point. Two small differences are worth recording so that searches return both filings.
The name is transliterated two ways: the Daily Mirror has Keppetiyagoda, Hiru Keppitiyagoda; the temple appears as Rajopawanaramaya and Rajopavanaramaya. These are the same monk and the same temple.
On age, the Daily Mirror states he died at 95, while Hiru’s Sinhala says he was in his 95th year — a formulation that in Sinhala usage normally means 94 completed years. This desk follows the Daily Mirror’s plain figure, and notes the difference rather than resolving it.
Not reported
Neither filing gives the date or cause of death beyond the long illness, names the hospital, or states the time. Neither reports his date of birth, his ordination, how long he had held the office of Anunayaka, or how long he had been chief incumbent at Gatambe.
No funeral arrangements have been announced, and there is no reported statement from the Ramanna Maha Nikaya, from the government, or from the other nikayas.
Sources: Daily Mirror, Hiru News (Sinhala).
