The inscription is engraved on the portico of the so-called Häṭa-dā-gē, ‘the Shrine of Sixty Relics’, at Poḷonnaruva. It was discovered by S. M. Burrows in 1885; Burrows also discovered two further inscription in the shrine itself (IN03079 and IN03080). The inscription dates from the reign of Kīrti-Niśśaṅka-Malla (1187-1196 A.D.) and consists of 23 lines, starting with a Sanskrit stanza in triṣṭup śālinī metre and ending in a Sinhalese quatrain. Both of these stanzas contain Niśśaṅka-Malla’s appeal to future kings to protect and preserve the Dharma. The rest of the inscription describes some of Niśśaṅka-Malla’s administrative and charitable acts, including the building in stone of the Vaṭa-geya (‘Rotunda’), the (Niśśaṅka-latā-maṇḍapaya ‘Niśśaṅka flower-trail hall’), and the Niśśaṅka-daḷadā-geya (‘Niśśaṅka tooth-relic house’) at Poḷonnaruva.
| Metadata | |
|---|---|
| Inscription ID | IN03078 |
| Title | Poḷonnaruva Häṭa-dā-gē Portico Slab Inscription |
| Alternative titles | |
| Parent Object | OB03058 |
| Related Inscriptions | |
| Responsibility | |
| Author | Don Martino de Zilva Wickremasinghe |
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| Digitally edited by | |
| Edition improved by | |
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| Language | संस्कृतम् , සිංහල |
| Reigning monarch | Niśśaṅka-Malla |
| Commissioner | |
| Topic | appeals to future kings to protect and preserve the Dharma and describes some of Niśśaṅka-Malla’s administrative and charitable acts, including the building in stone of the Vaṭa-geya (‘Rotunda’), the (Niśśaṅka-latā-maṇḍapaya ‘Niśśaṅka flower-trail hall’), and the Niśśaṅka-daḷadā-geya (‘Niśśaṅka tooth-relic house’) at Poḷonnaruva |
| Date: | |
| Min | 1187 |
| Max | 1196 |
| Comment | Basis for dating: reign of Kīrti-Niśśaṅka-Malla (1187-1196 A.D.) Wickremasinghe suggests that this inscription is later than the Runvanväli-dāgaba inscription (IN03077), which dates from the fourth year of Niśśaṅka-Malla’s reign (1191), because it refers to additional charitable and administrative acts not mentioned in the Runvanväli-dāgaba text. |
| Hand | |
| Letter size | 3.81 |
| Description | Letter size is on average between 1 and 1½ inches (2.54 and 3.81 cm). The letter type is practically the same as that of Niśśaṅka-Malla’s other inscriptions. |
| Layout | |
| Campus: | |
| Width | 111.76 |
| Height | 160.02 |
| Description | 23 lines engraved on a smoothed and ruled surface formed of two slabs fitted together edgeways, one above the other, on the right side of the passage through the portico of the so-called Häṭa-dā-gē, ‘the Shrine of Sixty Relics’, at Poḷonnaruva. |
| Decoration | |
| Bibliography | |
| References | Edited and translated in Burrows 1887: 56-60. Re-edited by Wickremasinghe in Epigraphia Zeylanica 2 (1912-27) 84-90, no. 14. |
| Add to bibliography | |
| Misc notes | |