The inscription is situated in the ruins of an ancient site, close by the Ratmale wewa, south-west from Anurādhapura, not far from the Kurunegala Road. Four lines are engraved on a large slab rock. The inscription mentions three names of kings: Devānapiya Tisa-maharaja, Devānapiya Puṭikaṇa Gamiṇi Abhaya-maharaja, Devānapiya Naka-maharaja. These have been identified by Goldschmidt and Müller as the kings Vaṅkanāsika Tissa, Gaja-bāhu and Mahallaka Nāga of the Mahāvaṁsa. The inscription records the donation from the king Mahallaka Nāga (circa A.D. 135-141) of gruel, boiled rice, undergarments and silk outer garments for the Vassa ceremony to 20 monks at Vihirabijaka and at Muṭigulika and Parivataka monasteries.

Metadata
Inscription ID IN03028
Title Maha-Ratmale Rock Inscription
Alternative titles
Parent Object OB03023
Related Inscriptions
Responsibility
Author Don Martino de Zilva Wickremasinghe
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Language Sinhalese Prakrit
Reigning monarch Mahallaka Naga
Commissioner
Topic benefactions of gruel, boiled rice and clothing to three Buddhist monasteries
Date:
Min 135
Max 141
Comment Basis for dating: reign of Mahallaka Naga.
Hand
Letter size 10.1
Description Letters size approximate. Brāhmī characters belonging to the second century A.D.
Layout
Campus:
Width 360.7
Height 76.2
Description Four lines, cleanly cut. Three akṣaras of the first line, five of the second, six of the third and four of the fourth are obliterated (possibly as a result of fires made on the slab by treasure seekers).
Decoration
Bibliography
References Edited by Wickremasinghe in Epigraphia Zeylanica 1 (1904-12): 58-65.
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