The inscription is engraved around four sides of the smoothed upper surface of a granite seat or āsana. In 1927, Wickremasinghe reported that the seat stood a few feet off the south-east corner of the site of a Piḷima-gē (‘image-house’) in the group of ruins on the Tōpa-väva quadrangle (the Dalada Maluwa) in Polonnaruwa. The inscription indicates the āsana as that on which king Niśśaṅka-Malla used to sit whenever he witnessed the dramatic and musical entertainments which were held in the Kāliṅga-vana after his return from his Ceylong tours and his Indian campaign. Niśśaṅka Malla reigned from 1187 to 1196 A.D. According to the Poḷonnaruva Häṭa-dā-gē Vestibule Wall Inscription (IN03079), Niśśaṅka Malla began his journeys around Ceylon in the second year of his reign i.e. 1188-89 A.D. As the present inscription refers to these journeys, it must date from after 1188 A.D.
| Metadata | |
|---|---|
| Inscription ID | IN03083 |
| Title | Poḷonnaruva Kāliṅga Forest Gal-āsana Inscription |
| Alternative titles | |
| Parent Object | OB03063 |
| Related Inscriptions | |
| Responsibility | |
| Author | Don Martino de Zilva Wickremasinghe |
| Print edition recorded by | |
| Source encoded | |
| Digitally edited by | |
| Edition improved by | |
| Authority for | |
| Metadata recorded by | |
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| Authoriy for improved | |
| Language | සිංහල |
| Reigning monarch | Niśśaṅka-Malla |
| Commissioner | |
| Topic | indicates the āsana on which king Niśśaṅka-Malla used to sit whenever he witnessed the dramatic and musical entertainments which were held in the Kāliṅga-vana after his return from his Ceylong tours and his Indian campaign |
| Date: | |
| Min | 1188 |
| Max | 1196 |
| Comment | Basis for dating: reign of Niśśaṅka Malla (1187-1196 A.D.). According to the Poḷonnaruva Häṭa-dā-gē Vestibule Wall Inscription (IN03079), Niśśaṅka Malla began his journeys around Ceylon in the second year of his reign i.e. 1188-89 A.D. As the present inscription refers to these journeys, it must post-date 1188 A.D. |
| Hand | |
| Letter size | 5.08 |
| Description | Letter size varies from 1 to 2 inches (2.54 to 5.08 cm). |
| Layout | |
| Campus: | |
| Width | |
| Height | |
| Description | Campus dimensions not reported. Four lines inscribed between ruled lines around all four edges of the smoothed upper surface of a granite seat or āsana. The ruled lines are 2½ inches (6.35 cm) apart and a blank space measuring 22 inches (55.88 cm) square has been left in the centre of the text. |
| Decoration | |
| Bibliography | |
| References | Edited by Wickremasinghe in Epigraphia Zeylanica 2 (1912-27) 125-127, no. 19. |
| Add to bibliography | |
| Misc notes | |