The inscription is engraved on three sides of a quadrangular pillar, which was discovered in or before 1905 at the site of the so-called Raja-māḷigāva (royal palace) in the Citadel of Poḷonnaruva. In 1912, Wickremasinghe reported that the pillar had been moved to the premises of the Archaeological Commissioner at Tōpa-väva. The inscription consists of 118 lines in the Sinhalese alphabet of the early eleventh century A.D. It is dated to the eighth year of the reign of king Siri San̆g-bo and records the granting of immunities to a village called Kiṇigama, belonging to Kuḷu-Tisa-rad-maha-vehera of the Mahāvihāra Nikāya, situated in the Eastern Quarter. Wickremasinghe suggests that the biruda Siri San̆g-bo refers in this instance to Mahinda IV. The first three lines of the inscription are almost word-for-word identical with the two slab inscriptions of Mahinda IV at Jētavanārāma (IN03061 and IN03062).
| Metadata | |
|---|---|
| Inscription ID | IN03074 |
| Title | Poḷonnaruva Raja-Māḷigāva Pillar Inscription of Mahinda IV |
| Alternative titles | |
| Parent Object | OB03054 |
| Related Inscriptions | |
| Responsibility | |
| Author | Don Martino de Zilva Wickremasinghe |
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| Digitally edited by | |
| Edition improved by | |
| Authority for | |
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| Language | සිංහල |
| Reigning monarch | Siri San̆g-bo |
| Commissioner | |
| Topic | records the granting of immunities to a village called Kiṇigama, belonging to Kuḷu-Tisa-rad-maha-vehera of the Mahāvihāra Nikāya, situated in the Eastern Quarter |
| Date: | |
| Min | 983 |
| Max | 983 |
| Comment | Basis for dating: intrinsic. The inscription is dated to the tenth day of the first half of the lunar month of Navau (Jan.-Feb.) in the eighth year of the reign of king Siri San̆g-bo. Wickremasinghe suggests that the biruda Siri San̆g-bo refers in this instance to Mahinda IV, who reigned from 975 to 991 A.D. |
| Hand | |
| Letter size | 3.175 |
| Description | Letter size varies from ½ to 1¼ inches (1.27 to 3.175 cm). Sinhalese alphabet of the early eleventh century A.D. |
| Layout | |
| Campus: | |
| Width | 24.13 |
| Height | 182.88 |
| Description | 118 lines engraved within parallel lines on three sides of a quadrangular stone pillar (40 lines on the first side, 42 lines on the second and 36 lines on the third). |
| Decoration | |
| Bibliography | |
| References | Edited by Wickremasinghe in Epigraphia Zeylanica 2 (1912-27) 49-57, no. 10. |
| Add to bibliography | |
| Misc notes | |