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 (now President's College) where she passed her Ordinary Level (OL) examination but only passed one subject in Advanced Level (AL). She later worked as an telephone operator at the Anuradhapura Hospital and later was the watcher at the Education Department.

2022 protests During the 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Gnana was targeted by protestors due to her involvement with president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and her alleged influence over politics. In March 2022 when the women's wing of the opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya under MP Hirunika Premachandra went to protest against the government's actions during the economic crisis that was increasingly becoming severer they were informed that Rajapaksa and his family had gone to Anuradhapura to meet Gnana Akka. Hirunika criticized the president for going after soothsayers during a national crisis and in April she led the women's wing of the SJB to Anuradhapura in a protest. The government provided extensive police protection to the area and blocked the SJB women's protest. Protestors questioned why a shaman was being given police protection as if she had the authority of a politician.