President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has pledged to enact legislation to enforce discipline among Buddhist monks, promising amendments to the colonial-era Vihara and Devalagam Act of 1931 and the revival of a formal monastic disciplinary authority.
Speaking at the State Vesak Festival at the Mihidellawa Ancient Temple in Thihagoda, Matara, the President said the government was acting on a request from the Mahanayake Theras. The reforms would re-establish a Dharmadhikaranaya — a quasi-judicial body historically empowered to impose ecclesiastical discipline — with powers to handle misconduct within the clergy.
The commitment marks the first concrete legislative response to a deepening crisis in the Buddhist order. It follows the arrest of the Anuradhapura Atamasthanadhipathi, Pallegama Hemarathana Thera, on child sexual abuse charges, and a drug-smuggling case implicating more than 20 monks detained at Bandaranaike International Airport. Authorities have since moved to disrobe 23 monks linked to the narcotics network.
Hours earlier, former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga issued a parallel appeal, writing to the Mahanayake Theras of all three chapters to warn that Buddhism in Sri Lanka faces a “serious crisis.” She urged the convening of a Dharma Sanghayana, or Buddhist Council, to identify the root causes of clerical misconduct and implement reforms safeguarding both the Dhamma and the Vinaya (monastic discipline).
Kumaratunga cited historical precedent from the First Buddhist Council to the Kandyan-era reforms of Welivita Sri Saranankara, and recalled that a council planned during her own presidency under Madihe Pannasiha Mahanayake Thera was abandoned amid resistance from sections of the clergy. She cautioned that groups benefiting from existing problems had “worked to prevent meaningful reforms” before.
Dissanayake met the Maha Sangha earlier this month over the narcotics allegations, while the Mahanayake Theras condemned the conduct exposed by the airport drug bust.
