The inscription was discovered in ruins of an ancient monastery belonging to the Jētavanārāma group, north of the Kūṭṭam-pokuṇa in Anurādhapura. It consists of 14 lines of Sanskrit prose engraved on a granite slab. It seems to be the second portion of a text. The first part must have been written on another slab, which has not been found. The inscription records rules for the guidance of monks and laymen living in within the precincts of the vihāra or in its lands. No date is given in the inscription but, according to Wickremasinghe, it is probably from the first half of the 9th century A.D.
| Metadata | |
|---|---|
| Inscription ID | IN03007 |
| Title | Jētavanārāma Sanskrit Inscription |
| Alternative titles | |
| Parent Object | OB03006 |
| Related Inscriptions | |
| Responsibility | |
| Author | Don Martino de Zilva Wickremasinghe |
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| Language | संस्कृतम् |
| Reigning monarch | |
| Commissioner | |
| Topic | regulations for the guidance of monks and laymen living within the precincts of the Vihāras or in lands belonging to them |
| Date: | |
| Min | 800 |
| Max | 850 |
| Comment | Basis for dating: palaeography. |
| Hand | |
| Letter size | 2.5 |
| Description | Northern class. Identified by Wickremasinghe as a variety of the Magadha Nāgarī character, current in the ninth century A.D. |
| Layout | |
| Campus: | |
| Width | 132 |
| Height | 99 |
| Description | Forty lines, boldly engraved. Each line is about 94 cm long and the inscription is surrounded by a margin of around 2.5 cm on all sides. The last three lines, as well as portions of lines 12-28 and 35-37, are illegible due to breakages and fire damage to the slab. |
| Decoration | A conventional form of a lotus flower is carved on either side of the first two lines. |
| Bibliography | |
| References | Edited by Wickremasinghe in Epigraphia Zeylanica 1 (1904-12): 1-9. |
| Add to bibliography | |
| Misc notes | It is evident from the abrupt beginning of the text that this is only the second part of an inscription. The first part must have been engraved on a separate slab, for there are no traces of writing on the back of the present stone. |