A Six-year-old girl notices her upset mom over a road accident that occurred near their home. To comfort her mom, the girl says, “Don’t worry about the accident, I have come here after an accident.” This was the precursor to many such startling revelations that would truly shock her family in the days to come. 

The girl was Purnima Ekanayake and she was referring to her reincarnation after having died in a road accident in her past life. Purnima claimed to be Jinadasa Perera in her past life who sold incense sticks on a bicycle to earn his living. Read about one of the most unusual reincarnation stories which shocked everyone.

Purnima Ekanayake was born in 1987 in Bakamuna, Sri Lanka. Her father was a school principal and her mom a teacher.

Purnima’s claims started turning weirder with each passing day. To her parents’ horror, she claimed to have other parents in her past life who worked in an incense factory in Kelaniya.

When it all started

Purnima started talking about her previous life at the tender age of four. After watching a TV show that featured the Buddhist Kelaniya Temple situated around 145 km from Bakamuna, Sri Lanka, Purnima claimed to have known this temple in her past life.

After a few days, Purnima’s parents took her on a visit to Kelaniya Temple. Upon reaching the city, the girl said she used to live on the other side of the Kelaniya River.

The girl claimed to have been a man named Jinadasa Perera in her past life. Jinadasa’s family owned an incense business. Purnima also specifically remembered the brands produced by Jindasa’s factory – Ambiga and Geta Pichcha. According to her, Jinadasa was the best incense maker in the family.

She further added that the family hired workers for incense making and she used to supervise those workers. She also demonstrated her supervising style by walking with her hands behind her back and checking the progress of workers.

The girl also narrated about her death as Jinadasa in the past life – She was hit by a bus and a heap of iron was over her body. After the accident, she floated in the air in semi-darkness for a few days. She saw people grieving over her dead body. She even saw her funeral. There were many people like her who were floating around in the air. Then she saw some light, went there, and came “here” (born as Purnima in Bakamuna).

The investigation by Professor Erlendur Haraldsson

The Purnima Ekanayake reincarnation case got the attention of Erlendur Haraldsson, Professor of Psychology at the University of Iceland and he decided to investigate the case.

Professor Erlendur Haraldsson met Purnima Ekanayake for the first time in 1996 at her home in Bakamuna, a town in the district of Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka. Purnima was nine years old then and was still talking about her past life. Professor Haraldsson found this a little strange as in most cases children tend to stop talking about previous life around the age of five or six years.

Professor Erlendur Haraldsson has covered the case of Purnima Ekanayake in the book, ‘I Saw a Light and Came Here / Children’s Experiences of Reincarnation‘ that he coauthored with James G. Matlock.

In January 1993 a recent graduate of Kelaniya University, W. G. Sumanasiri, was appointed a teacher in Bakamuna, where he and Purnima’s father became acquainted. Sumanasiri spent his weekdays in Bakamuna and the weekends in Kelaniya, where his wife lived.

Purnima’s father asked Sumansiri to make inquiries across the Kelaniya river to verify claims made by her daughter. He gave him the following points to verify –

• She had lived on the other side of the river from Kelaniya temple.
• She had been making Ambiga and Gita Pichcha incense sticks.
• She was selling incense sticks on a bicycle.
• She had a fatal traffic accident with a big vehicle.

The girl’s past life is traced

Sumanasiri went to Kelaniya and inquired about all the incense factories in the area. He then zeroed on three incense stick manufacturers and all of these were small family businesses. One of the businesses used to manufacture Ambiga and Geta Pichcha brands of incense. The owner of the business was L. A. Wijisiri. His brother-in-law and associate, Jinadasa Perera, had died in September 1985 in a road accident when he was going on his bicycle to sell the incense. This was about two years prior to Purnima’s birth.

The girl’s visit to her past life’s home

Sumanasiri informed Purnima’s father about his findings. A few days later Purnima, her parents, Sumanasiri, and his brother-in-law made an unannounced visit to the Wijisiri’s home. Wijisiri was not at home at the time of the group’s visit but arrived a short while later. On seeing Wijisiri approaching his house, Purnima said to the people present around her – “This is Wijisiri. He is coming. He is my brother-in-law”.

Purnima said to Wijisiri that she used to sell these incense sticks and asked if he has changed the outer cover of the packets. This was correct as Wijisiri used to change the color and design of the packets every few years.

The girl also had prominent birthmarks on her lower chest on the left midline. She said these marks were caused in the accident when the wheels of a bus had passed over her chest and her left side. Wijisiri confirmed that Jinadasa’s fatal injuries had occurred on the left side, just below the chest, killing Jinadasa.

The girl then spoke about an accident Wijisiri had many years ago and that she (Jinadasa) had applied medicine to his injured knee. Wijisiri had been unable to bend his knee since then. She also inquired about Jinadasa’s friends – Somasiri and Padmasiri. She also recognized Jinadasa’s younger sister, G. Violet, and a co-worker, Somasiri.

The girl also knew about the process of incense making which is quite unusual for a child her age.

These facts convinced the Ekanayake and Wijisiri families that Purnima Ekanayake’s incarnation is real and she actually is the reincarnation of Jinadasa.

We tried to find out where Purnima Ekanayake lives now but our efforts yielded no result.

Purnima’s memories, birthmarks, and knowledge of incense making make it a highly unusual case of reincarnation.   

Reference –

Haraldsson, E. (2017). ‘Purnima Ekanayake (reincarnation case)’. Psi Encyclopedia. London: The Society for Psychical Research.