The inscription is repeated on each of the four pillars which once supported the roof of an open pavilion on the southern terrace of the Ruvanväli or Rankot-dāgaba in Poḷonnaruva. According to the inscription, this pavilion was built to provide a place from which king Niśśanka Malla could pay his adorations to the relics enshrined in the dāgaba. Presumably, the pavilion originally contained an āsana (throne) or dias for this purpose. The pillars are square at the top and bottom with an octagonal section in the centre. All four pillars are fallen and two are broken. The inscription gives an account of some of Niśśaṅka-Malla’s acts, before describing the king’s use of the pavilion. Niśśaṅka-Malla reigned from 1187 to 1196 A.D. No specific date is given in the inscription but, as Wickremasinghe notes, the text must have been composed after the fourth year of Niśśaṅka-Malla’s reign because it refers to the king’s visit to Anurādhapura, which took place in his fourth regnal year, and to his later tours of inspection.
Of the four copies of the inscription on the four pillars, two were first transcribed and translated by Rhys Davids in 1875 for the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. The third copy was edited by Müller in Ancient Inscriptions in Ceylon (1883). The information below relates to the fourth copy, which was transcribed and translated for the first time by Wickremasinghe in Epigraphia Zeylanica 2 (1912-27). The fourth copy differs from the other three in the number of lines on each side and also in the beginning and end of each line.
| Metadata | |
|---|---|
| Inscription ID | IN03087 |
| Title | Poḷonnaruva Rankot-Dāgaba Pillar Inscription |
| Alternative titles | |
| Parent Object | OB03067 |
| Related Inscriptions | |
| Responsibility | |
| Author | Don Martino de Zilva Wickremasinghe |
| Print edition recorded by | |
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| Digitally edited by | |
| Edition improved by | |
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| Metadata recorded by | |
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| Language | සිංහල |
| Reigning monarch | Niśśaṅka-Malla |
| Commissioner | |
| Topic | gives an account of some of Niśśaṅka-Malla’s acts, before describing how a pavilion was built to provide a place from which the king could pay his adorations to the relics enshrined in the Ruvanväli dāgaba |
| Date: | |
| Min | 1191 |
| Max | 1196 |
| Comment | Basis for dating: reign of Niśśaṅka Malla (1187-1196 A.D.). No specific date is given in the inscription but, as Wickremasinghe notes, the text must date from after the fourth year of Niśśaṅka-Malla’s reign because it refers to the king’s visit to Anurādhapura, which took place in his fourth regnal year, and to his later tours of inspection. |
| Hand | |
| Letter size | 5.08 |
| Description | Letter size varies from 1 to 2 inches (2.54 to 5.08 cm). The letters resemble in type the script of other records of Niśśaṅka-Malla. |
| Layout | |
| Campus: | |
| Width | 31.75 |
| Height | 182.88 |
| Description | 107 lines inscribed between ruled lines on the four sides of a stone pillar (28 lines each on the first and second sides, 24 lines on the third side and 27 lines on the fourth side). The pillar is square at the top and bottom with an octagonal section in the centre. On the square parts of the pillar, the width of the inscribed area is 12½ inches (31.71 cm); on the octagonal shaft, the width is reduced to only 5 inches (12.7 cm). The ruled lines are 2 inches (5.08 cm) apart. |
| Decoration | |
| Bibliography | |
| References | This copy of the inscription was first edited by Wickremasinghe in Epigraphia Zeylanica 2 (1912-27) 137-142, no. 23. There are three further copies of the inscription on other pillars found at the same site. Two of these copies were illustrated, transcribed and translated in Rhys Davids 1875: 164-165 and plates opposite 152. The third was edited in Müller 1883: 66-67, 101 and 134-135, no. 150. |
| Add to bibliography | |
| Misc notes | Of the four copies of the inscription on the four pillars, two were first transcribed and translated by Rhys Davids in 1875 for the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. The third copy was edited by Müller in Ancient Inscriptions in Ceylon (1883). The information in this record relates to the fourth copy, which was transcribed and translated for the first time by Wickremasinghe in Epigraphia Zeylanica 2 (1912-27). The fourth copy differs from the other three in the number of lines on each side and also in the beginning and end of each line. See Concordance for more detail. |