The inscription is engraved on a low flat hummock of gneiss rock, about eight feet to the south of the ruins of a small rubble-built stupa. The hummock is known locally as Tōṇigala (Thonigala) or Nāgaragala and lies in the jungle about 6 miles (9.5 km) from Vavuniya on the Horowpotana Road, close to the border between Northern Province and North-Central Province. The inscription was recorded by Henry Parker in 1886 and listed in the Annual Report of the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon for 1892 but no attempt was made to interpret the text before Senarath Paranavitana’s edition in the early 1930s (Epigraphia Zeylanica 3, pp. 172–188). The inscription is dated in the third year of Śrīmeghavarṇṇa (Sri Meghavarna), the son of Mahāsena, who reigned in the fourth century A.D. It is a private document, and the king’s name is introduced only for purposes of dating. The text records that a certain minister deposited some quantities of grain and beans with a guild in the northern quarter of the city with the stipulation that the capital should remain unspent and the interest should be utilised for providing meals to the monks of the Yahisapavata monastery during the vassa season of every year. The inscription describes how much interest is to be taken and outlines the different kinds of provisions to be supplied for feeding the monks.
[line 1] Si [II*] Puviya Mahasena-maharajaha puta Sarimekavaṇa-Aba-maha-rajaha cata legi-
[line 2] -taka tiṇavanaka-vasahi[II*] Nakarahi utarapasahi Kaḷahumanaka-niya-matanahi siya a-
[line 3] -viya⸗kiṇiyeni nikata Kaḍubalagamakehi vasanaka - Ameti-paheja-Sivaya-
[line 4] -ha puta-Devayaha Yahisapavaya-nava-vaherakehi dina ariyava-
[line 5] -sa vaṭavi de hakaḍa dasa amaṇaka vi ica sa amaṇaka
[line 6] udi ica bayali dasa amaṇa ica [II*] Me de hakaḍa dasa a-
[line 7] -maṇaka vi piṭadaḍa-hasahi veḍa akala-hasahi veḍha ma-
[line 8] -de-hasahi veḍha pacavisiya amaṇaka vi ica me sa amaṇaka udihi
[line 9] veḍha eka amaṇa de pekaḍaka udi ica dasa amaṇaka bayalihi veḍha de a-
[line 10] -maṇa de pekaḍaka bayali ica [II*] Me vataka-vaṇahi gahe kiṇiya ciṭa-vaya ve-
[line 11] -ḍha geṇa tiṇaḍa hakaṭa dana-vaṭa ica atarakajaka-vaṭa ica atarakaja-
[line 12] (pari)kara-yapeni ica di miya-vaṭa peṇi tila ica bunatela ica loṇa ica
[line 13] palaha-vaṭa ica veṭayala ica vahera . . ga sara pa . . pacanahi
[line 14] miliya padiya ica [II*] Meva [taka] veḍhavataka geṇa vanaya va[na]ya
[line 15] atovasahi Nikamaniya-cada puṇamasa doḷasa-paka-divasa
[line 16] [a]riyavasa karana maha-bikusagah⸗aṭa niyata koṭu Yahisapava[ta-na]-
[line 17] -va-vaherakahi dini [II*]
[line 1] Si [II*] Puviya Mahasena-maharajaha puta Sarimekavaṇa-Aba-maha-rajaha cata legi-
[line 2] -taka tiṇavanaka-vasahi[II*] Nakarahi utarapasahi Kaḷahumanaka-niya-matanahi siya a-
[line 3] -viya⸗kiṇiyeni nikata Kaḍubalagamakehi vasanaka - Ameti-paheja-Sivaya-
[line 4] -ha puta-Devayaha Yahisapavaya-nava-vaherakehi dina ariyava-
[line 5] -sa vaṭavi de hakaḍa dasa amaṇaka vi ica sa amaṇaka
[line 6] udi ica bayali dasa amaṇa ica [II*] Me de hakaḍa dasa a-
[line 7] -maṇaka vi piṭadaḍa-hasahi veḍa akala-hasahi veḍha ma-
[line 8] -de-hasahi veḍha pacavisiya amaṇaka vi ica me sa amaṇaka udihi
[line 9] veḍha eka amaṇa de pekaḍaka udi ica dasa amaṇaka bayalihi veḍha de a-
[line 10] -maṇa de pekaḍaka bayali ica [II*] Me vataka-vaṇahi gahe kiṇiya ciṭa-vaya ve-
[line 11] -ḍha geṇa tiṇaḍa hakaṭa dana-vaṭa ica atarakajaka-vaṭa ica atarakaja-
[line 12] (pari)kara-yapeni ica di miya-vaṭa peṇi tila ica bunatela ica loṇa ica
[line 13] palaha-vaṭa ica veṭayala ica vahera . . ga sara pa . . pacanahi
[line 14] miliya padiya ica [II*] Meva [taka] veḍhavataka geṇa vanaya va[na]ya
[line 15] atovasahi Nikamaniya-cada puṇamasa doḷasa-paka-divasa
[line 16] [a]riyavasa karana maha-bikusagah⸗aṭa niyata koṭu Yahisapava[ta-na]-
[line 17] -va-vaherakahi dini [II*]