This video shows a Sri Lanka Air Force led mission at a Buddhist temple in 2014.

The three-minute video was published in this Facebook post on October 22, 2019, where it has been viewed more than  236,000 times and shared more than 10,000 times. 

Below is a screenshot of the misleading Facebook post:

The post’s Sinhala-language caption translates to English as: 

“Bai peoples, this is how the Sri Paada temple bell was stolen by Gota”. 

“Sri Paada” refers to a 7,360 foot high mountain in the south of Sri Lanka which is a highly revered pilgrimage site for Sri Lankan Buddhists. It is also known as Adam’s Peak.

“Bai peoples” is a reference to a Sinhala phrase coined to troll supporters of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), Rajapaksa’s political party.

“Gota” refers to Gotabaya Rajapaksa - the SLPP candidate for the upcoming Sri Lankan Presidential election scheduled for November 16, 2019.

The same video was published here and here on Facebook with a similar claim.

This claim is false; video shows a Sri Lanka Air Force operation at a Buddhist temple in 2014.

A reverse image search on Google for a keyframe extracted from the clip using video verification tool InVID found this article published on the Sri Lanka Airforce official website on January 4, 2014.

The article’s headline states: “The Helitours completes its underslung operations at Adam’s Peak.”

Helitours is the commercial arm of Sri Lanka Air Force.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading posts (L) and an image on the Air Force website article (R); similarities have been highlighted in red and yellow by AFP: 

The Air Force report’s first paragraph states: “The Mi 171 helicopter of the SLAF Helitours successfully completed its Under Slung Operation at Adam’s Peak this morning (08th January 2014). The underslung operation was launched on 02nd January 2014 in order to facilitate the construction work presently being undertaken on Adam's Peak (Sri Paada).” 

The article further notes on the eight day operation, cargo weighing over 26 tonnes was airlifted to the pilgrimage site at the top of the Sri Paada mountain and included “a Brass Bell, a Dolosmahe Pahana (eternal flame oil lamp) and other construction materials from Lakshapana Estate Sports ground.” 

A keyword search on YouTube subsequently found this video of the operation published on March 5, 2019. 

The video’s title states:  ‘SRIPADA | Adam's peak Srilanka’.

The video in the misleading posts is identical to the YouTube video from the 12 minute three-second mark to the 15-minute three-second mark.

Below are two screenshot comparisons of the video in the misleading posts (L) and the 2014 YouTube video (R)

Sunil Shantha Weerasekera, chief lay custodian of the shrine that oversees the Sri Paada worship site, told AFP by phone on October 30, 2019 that the Air Force carried out the operation to transport the cargo seen in the video. 

“The temple bell and the dolos mahe pahana remain intact and safe in the Sri Paada temple -- this isn’t the first time this false claim surfaced; it was mentioned four years back in the cusp of elections. It is disappointing to hear such false claims being concocted about a place of worship for political gains,” he told AFP.

Dolos mahe pahana - which literally translates from Sinhala into the ‘Lamp of the 12 months’ - is an oil lamp that is supposed to remain lit for eternity. 

Weerasekara said the bell was donated to the temple as part of a renovation project.

“What is seen in the video is a new temple bell and a dolos mahe pahana being airlifted to the Sri Paada temple with the assistance of the Air Force,” he said. “The articles were a donation to the temple as part of a renovation project implemented in the Sri Paada after it was declared a World Heritage site.”

Bengamuwe Dhammadinna thera, the Chief Incumbent of the Sri Paada, also dismissed the false claims circulating on social media in this video recorded at a meeting with the temple daayaka sabhaawa (lay custodians).

In the video uploaded on October 18, 2019, Dhammadinna thera’s comments in Sinhala-language translate to English as: “We have received accusations about a temple bell...The bell remains where it was, when the temple was handed over to us, hung between the two iron posts.”