The inscription is engraved on a stone pillar, which now stands outside the cave at the ancient site known as Kaṭugaha-galgē (Katugahagalge) or Aturugiri Vihāra, situated about five miles to the north of Buttala in the Kan̆dukara Kōraḷē of the Ūva Province. The cave is situated on the steep side of a huge granite rock on top of which there is a small stupa now renovated. A part of the cave has been walled, in comparatively recent times, to form a shrine and six cells as living quarters for the monks. In front of the cave are remains of ancient structures, the stonework of which is plain and archaic and bespeaks an early date. The pillar, which has been broken into two unequal fragments, was not originally situated here, having been removed to this site from a neighbouring chena sometime in the nineteenth century.

 

Two other known pillars bear inscriptions identical to this one. One stands in the vicinity of the colossal stupa at Yudaganava, which is about four miles to the south of Katugahagalge, having been brought there from the neighbouring jungle in 1924. The other was found at Väligatta in Hambantoṭa district and now forms part of the  collection at the Colombo Museum. In August 1927, Senarath Paranavitana visited Yadaganava and Katugahagalge and found that the pillars at these two places, as well as the one from Väligatta, were gavu (P. gāvuta) stones set up by Kāliṅga Cakravartti, i.e. Niśśaṁka Malla, who reigned from 1187 to 1196 A.D. H. W. Codrington subsequently brought to light six more of these gāvuta pillars in the same locality, most of them in a fragmentary condition. Codrington’s paper on these pillars, dealing particularly with the information they yield on the precise length of the yojana and gāvuta (ancient units of measure), was published in the Ceylon Journal of Science (Section G), vol. ii, pp. 129–134. Of all of these pillars so far known, only on the Katugahagelge pillar is the inscription completely preserved. The inscription indicates the pillar marked a gāvunta and it also includes a short homily addressed to the people of Rohaṇa and an account of the achievements and deeds of king Niśśaṁka Malla.

Side A
[line 1] Śrīḥ ||
[line 2] Ruṇu-rajaye-
[line 3] -hi ättavun
[line 4] kerehi karu-
[line 5] -ṇāyen ki-
[line 6] -yamha [||*] Dhana-dhā-
[line 7] -nya dāsī-dāsa-
[line 8] -yan äti vä
[line 9] jīvat-vannā
[line 10] kämättamha [||*]
[line 11] Māyā-rajayehi
[line 12] ättavun a-
[line 13] -tin nindā pa-
[line 14] -ribhava no a-
[line 15] -sā lobhī vä a-
[line 16] -nun gättaṭa
[line 17] āśā no ko-
[line 18] -ṭä bat kǟ bu-
[line 19] -lat kǟ mataṭa u-
[line 20] -ddhata no va Ru-
[line 21] -ṇo nivañcā-
[line 22] -vo yä suvāmi
[line 23] pakṣapāta gät-
[line 24] -to yayi kiyavava [||*]
[line 25] Manuṣya-ātma läbī-
[line 26] -ma durllabha yä [||*]
[line 27] Dukin lat ā-
[line 28] -tmaya anāye-
[line 29] -hi nasana bava
[line 30] dharmma no veyi [||*]
[line 31] Suvayen jīva-
[line 32] -t vannā kämät-
[line 33] -tamha yi [||*] Mē ava-
[line 34] -vāda kiyā Pāṇḍi-
[line 35] raṭa de-varekä
Side B
[line 1] gos tulā-
[line 2] bhāra näṅgī
[line 3] Pāṇḍi-rajju-
[line 4] -ruvangen
[line 5] bisō-varu-
[line 6] -n ätun a-
[line 7] -sun ādi vū
[line 8] aya genä
[line 9] Soḷī-raṭin
[line 10] paṇḍuru ge-
[line 11] -nä Lak-diva-
[line 12] -ṭa avut tu-
[line 13] -n rajaya vaṭa
[line 14] koṭä Sama[no-]
[line 15] -ḷa ādi vū du-
[line 16] -rgga balā va-
[line 17] -dāḷa Kāliṅga-
[line 18] cakravartti-
[line 19] -n vahanse
[line 20] taram kaḷa
[line 21] Niśśaṁka-gavu-
[line 22] -vayi [||*]
Side A
[line 1] Śrīḥ ||
[line 2] Ruṇu-rajaye-
[line 3] -hi ättavun
[line 4] kerehi karu-
[line 5] -ṇāyen ki-
[line 6] -yamha [||*] Dhana-dhā-
[line 7] -nya dāsī-dāsa-
[line 8] -yan äti vä
[line 9] jīvat-vannā
[line 10] kämättamha [||*]
[line 11] Māyā-rajayehi
[line 12] ättavun a-
[line 13] -tin nindā pa-
[line 14] -ribhava no a-
[line 15] -sā lobhī vä a-
[line 16] -nun gättaṭa
[line 17] āśā no ko-
[line 18] -ṭä bat kǟ bu-
[line 19] -lat kǟ mataṭa u-
[line 20] -ddhata no va Ru-
[line 21] -ṇo nivañcā-
[line 22] -vo yä suvāmi
[line 23] pakṣapāta gät-
[line 24] -to yayi kiyavava [||*]
[line 25] Manuṣya-ātma läbī-
[line 26] -ma durllabha yä [||*]
[line 27] Dukin lat ā-
[line 28] -tmaya anāye-
[line 29] -hi nasana bava
[line 30] dharmma no veyi [||*]
[line 31] Suvayen jīva-
[line 32] -t vannā kämät-
[line 33] -tamha yi [||*] Mē ava-
[line 34] -vāda kiyā Pāṇḍi-
[line 35] raṭa de-varekä
Side B
[line 1] gos tulā-
[line 2] bhāra näṅgī
[line 3] Pāṇḍi-rajju-
[line 4] -ruvangen
[line 5] bisō-varu-
[line 6] -n ätun a-
[line 7] -sun ādi vū
[line 8] aya genä
[line 9] Soḷī-raṭin
[line 10] paṇḍuru ge-
[line 11] -nä Lak-diva-
[line 12] -ṭa avut tu-
[line 13] -n rajaya vaṭa
[line 14] koṭä Sama[no-]
[line 15] -ḷa ādi vū du-
[line 16] -rgga balā va-
[line 17] -dāḷa Kāliṅga-
[line 18] cakravartti-
[line 19] -n vahanse
[line 20] taram kaḷa
[line 21] Niśśaṁka-gavu-
[line 22] -vayi [||*]