Gnanawathi Jayasooriya
Gnanawathi Jayasooriya commonly known as Gnana Akka is a Sri Lankan businesswoman and self-proclaimed psychic claiming to have a persona called "Gnana Maniyo" capable of channeling the goddesses Pattini and Kali. She managed to gain a large number of followers including the former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Sri Lanka Army commander Shavendra Silva and was called the President's personal shaman. She was accused of using her influence over the president to direct the politics of the country and use state resources for her personal benefit and as a result was targeted during the 2022 Sri Lankan protests. During the protests she was given 250 soldiers and ten policemen commanded by an army brigadier.
Early life
Gnanawathi was born in Isurupura, Anuradhapura to a paddy farmer and received education Deepani Maha Vidyalaya where she passed her Ordinary Level examination but only passed one subject in Advanced Level. She later worked as an telephone operator at the Anuradhapura Hospital and later was the watcher at the Education Department.Career as medium
Gnaka claims her powers began appearing in 1981 when her mind went "this way and that" and then began to occur regularly and others noted that she was inheriting super-natural powers. She claims that when she goes into a trance her persona as medium emerges thus she has no memory of what happens then. She claims she is visited by Pattini and during her sessions as a medium she stays in the kutiya and she describes the persons she will meet and its her daughter then brings that person to meet her. She also claims that once a month on a Tuesday she is visited by Kali.As she amassed a large following she built a complex called simply called her Puda Bima which was visited by powerful figures such as politicians, military officers, businessmen, high-level government officials and professionals. The site also provided healing sessions. She claims that she does not accept any payments and all the payments to her are donations.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his wife Ioma Rajapaksa began visiting Gnana before 2009 after which continued to come whenever he can. She also developed close ties with Shavendra Silva.