IN03139 Kaludiyapokuṇa Slab Inscription

The inscription is engraved on a slab standing near a ruined structure at a distance of about 250 feet to the south of the stupa in the ruined monastery at Kalupokuṇa or Kaludiyapokuṇa, which lies on the slopes of a range of hills known as Eravalagala, about a mile and a half to the south-east of Kum̆bukkan̆danvaḷa, in the Vagapaṇaha Pallēsiya Pattu of the Mātaḷē District. The inscription consists of forty-six lines. However, the upper part of the slab is badly damaged and consequently the first twenty-nine lines of the text are largely illegible, apart from a few words here and there. Fortunately, the name of the king who issued this edict – Mahasen Maharaj – can be read quite clearly in line 9. Maha (‘Great’) is apparently used here purely as an epithet and does not form an integral part of the king’s name. His mother’s name – Vidurāräjna – is also clear and his father’s name may be read as Udā Maharaj, though not with absolute certainty. Since the inscription may be dated to the tenth century on palaeographic grounds, he was presumably one of the three kings called Sena who ruled in this period: Sena III, Sena IV or Sena V. After studying the available evidence on the parentage of these kings, Senarath Paranavitana concluded that Sena IV (r. 972–975 A.D.) was most likely candidate. The inscription is a katikā, or a set of regulations agreed upon by common consent. It seems to have consisted of three sections: (1) rules for the guidance of the monks, (2) rules dealing with the temple officials, and (3) regulations to be observed by the royal officers in their dealings with the monastery. Of these three section, only the second and third are preserved.