IN03060 Pālu Mäkiccǟva Rock Inscription of Gaja Bāhu I

The inscription is situated on a rock at the vāṇa or “spill-water” of an abandoned tank known as Pālu Mäkiccǟva. The tank is situated in the jungle, about 120 yards off the high road to Trincomalee, 16 miles from Anurādhapura. The inscription is composed of six lines, written in Southern Brāhmī alphabet of the latter part of the 2nd century A.D. It records the donation of 5000 kārṣāpaṇas from king Gamiṇi Abaya to the Buddhist priesthood of Tubaraba (Thūpārāma). Gamiṇi Abaya (or Gajabāhuka Gāmaṇī Abhaya) is described as having created the Vaḍamanaka tank in the Upala district but not the Pālu Mäkiccǟva tank, which he appears only to have repaired or deepened. The inscription identifies the Pālu Mäkiccǟva tank as the Abhivaḍḍhamānaka-vāpi tank and says that it was constructed by Gamiṇi Abaya’s grandfather.