Siddham. The Asian Inscription Database | IN03109 Mannar Kacceri Pillar Inscription

The inscription is covers all four sides of a quadrangular stone pillar, which stood in the early twentieth century in a corner of a room in the Kacceri (Government Agent’s Office) at Mannar. It is said to have been found in Māntai or Tirukkētīśvaram (or possibly in the bund of the Giant’s Tank) but the precise circumstances of its discovery are not recorded. The inscription details a grant of immunities to three villages on the northern coast, belonging to the house of meditation (piyangala) named Baha-durusen (Bhadra-sena) in the Mahā Vihāra. The text is dated on the tenth day of the dark fortnight of the month of Mädindina (March–April) in the twelfth year of King Siri Saṅgbo. Since the palaeography belongs to the late ninth or early tenth century A.D., it is likely that the king in question was either Sena II or Kassapa IV, both of whom used the biruda Siri Saṅgbo. Paranavitana (Epigraphia Zeylanica 3, pp. 102–103) favours Kassapa IV on the grounds that the executor of this grant – a minister named Paṇḍirad Dāpuḷu – is also mentioned in the same capacity in the Mäḍirigiriya Pillar Inscription (IN03070), which is dated to the third regnal year of Kassapa IV’s immediate successor, Kassapa V. While the same minister could easily have served both Kassapa IV and his successor, it is highly unlikely that he could have held office from the twelfth year of Sena II’s reign until the third year of Kassapa V’s – a period of more than fifty years.

Diplomatic Edition
Critical Edition

Side A

[line 1] Sva[s*]ti śri[II*]

[line 2] Sari Saṅg-

[line 3] bo Mapuru-

[line 4] -mukā doḷos-

[line 5] vanne Mädi-

[line 6] -ndinä a-

[line 7] -va dasavak

[line 8] davas Ma-

[line 9] -ha veherä

[line 10] Bahadura-

[line 11] sen piya-

[line 12] -ngalä ba-

[line 13] -da uturu-

[line 14] karāye Ku-

[line 15] -ḍa kadavu-

[line 16] -kāye avu

[line 17] Pepodatu-

[line 18] -ḍa Kumbal-

[line 19] hala Tum-

[line 20] pokoṇ me

[line 21] tun-gämä

[line 22] satara sī-

[line 23] -māyen ä-

[line 24] -tuḷ vu tā-

[line 25] -k tänaṭ

[line 26] vadāḷa e-

[line 27] -k tän sa-

Side B

[line 1] -miyen Pa-

[line 2] -ṇḍirad Dāpu

[line 3] -ḷā varä Me-

[line 4] -kāppar Pi-

[line 5] -laviṭ Mayi-

[line 6] -dand ca Koḷa-

[line 7] -bǟ Sivu ca

[line 8] api dedena-

[line 9] -mo ektän-

[line 10] samiyen

[line 11] vadāḷeyi-

[line 12] -n megama-

[line 13] -ṭ rad-kämi-

[line 14] -yan piyo-

[line 15] vadāran no-

[line 16] vadanā ca dunu-

[line 17] maṇḍula me-

[line 18] -lāssi raṭ-

[line 19] ladu pas-

[line 20] laddan no-

[line 21] vadanā ca de-

[line 22] kam-tän de-

[line 23] ruvane pe-

[line 24] -reläki dunu-

[line 25] pā-balat pa-

[line 26] -ḍi-meheyä

[line 27] ättan

Side C

[line 1] no vadnā ca

[line 2] gäl gon vä-

[line 3] -riyan bila ba-

[line 4] -t bili sāl

[line 5] kiravar tel va-

[line 6] -r nogannā ca

[line 7] perenāṭṭu-

[line 8] -vam no vandnā ca

[line 9] megam hun

[line 10] tāri kuḍin

[line 11] avalin no-

[line 12] gannā ca sa-

[line 13] -dā laddan no

[line 14] vadnā ca Ma-

[line 15] -hapuṭu lad

[line 16] -dan no va-

[line 17] -dnā ca kabhäli

[line 18] lad no va-

[line 19] -dana ca Nā-ve-

[line 20] -herä väs-

[line 21] -san no vad-

[line 22] -nā ca Raka-

[line 23] vehera-vässa-

[line 24] -n novadnā ca

[line 25] me tuvāk dena

[line 26] no vadnā

[line 27] koṭ megama-

Side D

[line 1] -ṭ api dede-

[line 2] -namo at-

[line 3] -tāṇi pe

[line 4] rähärä dun-

[line 5] -mahayi [II*]