The hill-range of Riṭigala is located about twenty-five miles south-east of Anurādhapura and eighteen miles north-east of Dam̆bulla. The range has numerous caves, rocks, ruins and inscriptions. Wickremasinghe describes four groups of inscriptions at different locations in the mountain range:

 

[1] Āṇḍiyā-kanda (east spur) – 10 cave-inscriptions.

[2] Karam̆bǟ-hīnna (north-west spur) – 2 cave-inscriptions (of which only one is described by Wickremasinghe).

[3] Nā-ulpata, also called Nā-arambädda-hīnna (west and south-west spur) – 1 cave-inscription; 4 rock-inscriptions (of which only three are described by Wickremasinghe).

[4] Vēväl-tänna (lower eastern spur) – 1 cave-inscription; 1 rock-inscription.

Metadata
Inscription ID IN03036
Title Riṭigala Āṇḍiyā-kanda Cave Inscription 4a
Alternative titles
Parent Object OB03028
Related Inscriptions
Responsibility
Author Don Martino de Zilva Wickremasinghe
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Language Sinhalese Prakrit
Reigning monarch
Commissioner
Topic donation of a cave to the Buddhist priesthood
Date:
Min -100
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Comment Wickremasinghe notes that, although the palaeography of the inscription suggests a date prior to 200 B.C., the historical personages mentioned in the text and in other nearby inscriptions appear to have lived in the first century B.C. This suggests that the inscriptions were written in the later period using archaic letters forms.
Hand
Letter size
Description Letter size not reported. Brāhmi script of the first and second centuries B.C.
Layout
Campus:
Width
Height
Description Campus size not reported. One line inscribed on the brow of a cave below the 'drip-line'.
Decoration
Bibliography
References Edited by Wickremasinghe in Epigraphia Zeylanica 1 (1904-12): 135-153, no. 10.
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