The inscription is engraved on the front wall of the vestibule or pro-naos of the so-called Häṭa-dā-gē, ‘the Shrine of Sixty Relics’, at Poḷonnaruva. It was discovered by S. M. Burrows in 1885, along with another inscription inside the shrine (IN03080) and one in the adjoining portico (IN03078). The inscription dates from the reign of Kīrti-Niśśaṅka-Malla (1187-1196 A.D.), whom it refers to as Siṁhapureśvara Laṁk󠅛eśvara Kāliṅga-Cakravartī. The text consists of 17 lines engraved within a double border featuring a band of haṁsas (swans) and another of foliate ornament. It describes some of Niśśaṅka-Malla’s administrative and charitable acts.
| Metadata | |
|---|---|
| Inscription ID | IN03079 |
| Title | Poḷonnaruva Häṭa-dā-gē Vestibule Wall Inscription |
| Alternative titles | |
| Parent Object | OB03059 |
| Related Inscriptions | |
| Responsibility | |
| Author | Don Martino de Zilva Wickremasinghe |
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| Language | සිංහල |
| Reigning monarch | Niśśaṅka-Malla |
| Commissioner | |
| Topic | describes some of Niśśaṅka-Malla’s administrative and charitable acts |
| Date: | |
| Min | 1187 |
| Max | 1196 |
| Comment | Basis for dating: reign of Kīrti-Niśśaṅka-Malla (1187-1196 A.D.), referred to here as Siṁhapureśvara Laṁk󠅛eśvara Kāliṅga-Cakravartī. 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 the inscription on the portico of the Häṭa-dā-gē (IN03078). |
| Layout | |
| Campus: | |
| Width | 182.88 |
| Height | 101.6 |
| Description | 23 lines engraved on the front wall of the vestibule or pro-naos of the so-called Häṭa-dā-gē, ‘the Shrine of Sixty Relics’, at Poḷonnaruva. The surface of the wall is composed of several dressed slabs, smoothed and ruled for inscription. |
| Decoration | The inscription is surrounded on all four sides with a double border featuring a band of haṁsas (swans) and another of foliate ornament. |
| Bibliography | |
| References | Edited and translated in Burrows 1887: 60-64. Re-edited by Wickremasinghe in Epigraphia Zeylanica 2 (1912-27) 91-96, no. 15. |
| Add to bibliography | |
| Misc notes | |