The inscription is engraved on two faces of a rock near the entrance to a cave (Cave No. 3) in the rocky hills situated about a quarter of a mile to the north of the village of Damunumulla in Central Province. These hills are known locally as Gäraṇ̆ḍigala (Garandigala, 7.787220, 80.570908) after the snake-like drip-line cut in the rock over one of the caves, gäraṇ̆ḍiyā being the Sinhalese name for the oriental ratsnake (pytas mucosa). The caves were formally used as the abodes of Buddhist mendicants and contain stone beds. The remains of a stūpa and other monastic structures lie to the north of the cave where the present inscription is located.
The inscription registers the names and extent of certain fields granted to the cave by three donors: Mahinda, the heir-apparent; Buddha Mahāmalla; and another individual whose proper name is not preserved. The inscription is dated to the third year of the reign of king Siri Saṁbo. The biruda Siri Saṁbo was used by a number of Sri Lanka kings. However, elsewhere in the inscription, the king is described as Dambdiv dunu, which Senarath Paranavitana translated as ‘who was born in India’. This description could apply to Aggabodhi V, Kassapa III or Mahinda I but only the second of these is believed to have used the biruda Siri Saṁbo. Hence Paranavitana attributes the inscription to Kassapa III (732–738 A.D.). The inscription’s reference to Mahinda, the heir-apparent, supports this attribution, since Kassapa III’s heir was his younger brother Mahinda (later Mahinda I).
The inscription was known to Edward Müller in 1883 (see his Ancient Inscriptions in Ceylon, p. 52, no. 104). It was then was seen by H. C. P. Bell and included as No. 209 in the list of inscriptions forming Appendix F of the Annual Report of the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon for 1911–12.
| Metadata | |
|---|---|
| Inscription ID | IN03127 |
| Title | Gäraṇ̆ḍigala Rock Inscription of Kassapa III |
| Alternative titles | |
| Parent Object | OB03103 |
| Related Inscriptions | |
| Responsibility | |
| Author | Senarath Paranavitana |
| Print edition recorded by | |
| Source encoded | |
| Digitally edited by | |
| Edition improved by | |
| Authority for | |
| Metadata recorded by | |
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| Language | සිංහල |
| Reigning monarch | Kassapa III |
| Commissioner | |
| Topic | registers the names and extent of certain fields granted to the cave by three donors: Mahinda, the heir-apparent; Buddha Mahāmalla; and another individual whose proper name is not preserved |
| Date: | |
| Min | 733 |
| Max | 734 |
| Comment | The inscription is dated to the third year of the reign of king Siri Saṁbo. The biruda Siri Saṁbo was used by a number of Sri Lanka kings. However, elsewhere in the inscription, the king is described as Dambdiv dunu, which Senarath Paranavitana translated as ‘who was born in India’. This description could apply to Aggabodhi V, Kassapa III or Mahinda I but only the second of these is believed to have used the biruda Siri Saṁbo. Hence Paranavitana attributes the inscription to Kassapa III (732–738 A.D.). The inscription’s reference to Mahinda, the heir-apparent, supports this attribution, since Kassapa III’s heir was his younger brother Mahinda (later Mahinda I). |
| Hand | |
| Letter size | 5.08 |
| Description | Letters about 2 inches (5.08 cm) on average in height. Sinhalese script of the eighth century A.D. |
| Layout | |
| Campus: | |
| Width | 121.92 |
| Height | 81.28 |
| Description | 13 lines boldly engraved on two panels of rock to the side of Cave No. 3 at Gäraṇ̆ḍigala (Garandigala). The first part of the inscription is on the panel to the right; it consists of seven lines and covers an area measuring roughly 4 feet (121.92 cm) by 2 feet 8 inches (81.28 cm). The remainder of the inscription is continued on the panel to the left; it consists of six lines and occupies an area measuring 3 feet 6 inches (106.68 cm) by 2 feet 6 inches (76.2 cm). |
| Decoration | On the panel to the left, above the second part of the inscription, are engraved the figures of a crow and a dog. |
| Bibliography | |
| References | Mentioned in Müller 1883: 52, no. 104. Edited and translated by S. Paranavitana in Epigraphia Zeylanica 3 (1928-33) 195–199, no. 19. |
| Add to bibliography | Included as No. 209 in the list of inscriptions forming Appendix F of the Annual Report of the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon for 1911–12. |
| Misc notes | |