1. Isn’t it strange that such an event should be held in such an apparently small room? It is more like a classroom – note the whiteboard, the piece of carpet on the floor… Hardly a place to receive an honours title. Also note the presence of a shadow on the right side of the Ven. Thero’s face and robe. The shadow seems to be too close to the face and robe – it looks more like a outline. This can only happen if he was standing right next to a wall…but the wall is some distance away.

2. The Ven. Soma Thero’s thumb and hand don’t look very natural. Note the diagonal-like mark right across the hand. It seems as if the thumb has been cut out from another picture and pasted on top of the rest of his hand. Also note the thumb of the other hand. It too looks more like it has been cut out and pasted here. If you look closely, you will see the line which joins the thumb to the rest of the hand. The thumb curves upwards in a strange way. It’s a pretty difficult position to keep a thumb in – especially when trying to get a hard grip on something rather heavy such as a framed award. By the way, these certificates never turned up. They were not sent to Sri Lanka.

3. Its well known that the Ven. Soma Thero thoroughly disliked black. Heard the rumours that his body was sent to Sri Lanka dressed in black? Would Ven. Soma Thero be wearing black socks – especially for an important photograph? By the way, its hard to tell if the long sleeved clothing he is wearing is black or maroon. It may have been due to the cold – however the ladies aren’t even wearing stockings, and the other monk doesn’t look like he’s feeling cold either. So perhaps they were taken from some other photograph which was shot during a warmer time of the year? It may just be a dirty floor…but it looks like parts of the floor are of a different colour.

4. Here is something extremely mysterious. Look very closely at the circled part – the seated portion of the Ven. Soma Thero’s body. There are no knees under this cloth. There cannot be. Note the horizontal line shown by the bracket. It is just too straight to imagine there are knees underneath it. It looks more like the straight edge of the chair seat – with an orange cloth draped across the chair. Also, it looks too flat to hold a body. The width of the sides is far too little to hold the thickness of a body – especially the thighs and knees. According to this picture, a person should have thighs almost as thin as cardboard!

5. It must be very uncomfortable for this lady (in the blue & white blouse) to stand in this way! Note how far apart the foot (in the white shoe) is from the rest of her body! The arm is around her friend’s shoulder. It is too much of a casual gesture for a formal photograph such as this.

6. The placement of chairs looks untidy…what a strange arrangement of chairs at an important function! Note that the lady in the background never claps! (There are two photos with her in the background, and she doesn’t clap in either one of those photos!) Once again, note the shadow on the right of Ven. Soma Thero’s face. The wall is too far away to make such a shadow and the lady who is much more close to the wall has no prominent shadow. Also note that the camera light is not on Ven. Soma Thero, but on Reverend Antonio. But Ven. Soma Thero has a darker shadow than Reverend Antonio or the lady in the background. By the way. where is the video of this occasion which is being filmed by the man on the right?

7. Rev. Antonio (left of photo) is one member of the audience. Why is the lady receiving the certificate standing behind the audience? The audience should be given seats so that they can watch what is happening without twisting their necks backwards! There is no stage, no microphone to make announcements….therefore, this is a most disorganised setting. Also note that the Reverend doesn’t turn behind to look. Doesn’t he want to watch the awards being given? Anyway, he cannot see her, then how does he know when to clap?!! Reverend Antonio

8. Note the fingers of this hand. When holding a file in the way Ven. Soma Thero is doing, his thumb should be out of sight because it will be behind the file while the other four fingers will be visible to the people in front. But in this photo, it seems as if there are more than four fingers to be seen. 5 fingers in front + thumb = 6 fingers (It looks like there are two small fingers at the bottom.)

9. Note the shadow again. It is strange that the shadow is found only around the Ven. Soma Thero.