The inscription is engraved on all four sides of a broken pillar discovered in Giritaḷē, a village seven miles to the north-west of Poḷonnaruva, where it was first recorded by H. C. P. Bell in the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon Annual Report for 1905 (p. 39, no. 8). The pillar was subsequently brought to the premises of the Archaeological Commissioner at Anurādhapura, where it was seen by Senarath Paranavitana sometime before 1933. The lower part of the pillar is missing and the portions of the inscription on the second and fourth sides of the pillar are no longer legible. It is, however, apparent from the surviving parts of the inscription that, like the majority of pillar inscriptions of the tenth century, it is concerned with a grant of immunities to a certain land. The inscription is dated in the first year of King Udā Sirisaṅgbō, who is described as the son of Mahinda, the sub-king (or heir apparent) and who can therefore be identified as Udaya II (r. 952–955 A.D.).
| Metadata | |
|---|---|
| Inscription ID | IN03116 |
| Title | Giritaḷē Pillar Inscription |
| Alternative titles | |
| Parent Object | OB03094 |
| Related Inscriptions | |
| Responsibility | |
| Author | Senarath Paranavitana |
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| Language | සිංහල |
| Reigning monarch | Udā Sirisaṅgbō (Udaya II) |
| Commissioner | |
| Topic | records a grant of immunities to a certain land |
| Date: | |
| Min | 952 |
| Max | 953 |
| Comment | The inscription is dated in the first year of King Udā Sirisaṅgbō, who is described as the son of Mahinda, the sub-king (or heir apparent) and who can therefore be identified as Udaya II (r. 952–955 A.D.). |
| Hand | |
| Letter size | 3.81 cm |
| Description | Letter size 1½ inches (3.81 cm) on average. Sinhalese alphabet of the 10th century A.D. |
| Layout | |
| Campus: | |
| Width | 24.13 |
| Height | 139.7 |
| Description | The inscription is engraved across all four sides of a quadrangular stone pillar. However, the lower portion of the pillar is missing and the writing on the second and fourth sides of the pillar is almost completely obliterated. A total of 66 lines remain legible on the first and third sides of the pillar (33 lines on each), although the text is poorly preserved and difficult to decipher. |
| Decoration | |
| Bibliography | |
| References | Edited and translated by S. Paranavitana in Epigraphia Zeylanica 3 (1928-33) 138-148, no. 10. |
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| Misc notes | |