This inscription is engraved across all four sides of the upper half of an inscribed pillar situated at the bottom of the rough stone steps leading to the top of the hill at the ancient monastery known as Rajamaha Vihāra at Vihāregama in the Uḍukaha Kōraḷē West of the Dam̆badeṇi Hatpattu in the Kuruṇǟgala District. The pillar is said to have been moved to its present site from a neighbouring chena in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century but its original location is not known. The lower portion of the pillar is missing. The inscription was copied for scholarship for the first time by Senarath Paranavitana in 1931 (see Ceylon Journal of Science, Section G, vol. ii, p. 211).
The inscription is dated in the ninth year of an unnamed king who was the elder brother or cousin (bǟ) of the heir-apparent (mahapā), also unnamed, by whom the edict was issued. On the basis of the palaeography, the inscription can be assigned to a reign between Kassapa IV (r. 912–929) and Mahinda V (r. 1001–1017). Of the kings who reigned during this period, Senarath Paranavitana identified two who reigned for more than nine years and whose heir-apparent was either their younger brother or cousin, namely Kassapa V (r. 929–939) and Sena V (r. 991–1001). This inscription therefore probably belongs to one or other of these kings, although without further information it is impossible to draw any firm conclusions.
The text registers the gift of a land, the name of which is not preserved, to a person named Niligalu Bud, and the immunities granted thereto. In style, the document closely resembles the Poḷonnaruva Council Chamber pillar inscription (IN03158), many words and phrases being peculiar to both.
| Metadata | |
|---|---|
| Inscription ID | IN03159 |
| Title | Vihāregama Pillar Inscription |
| Alternative titles | |
| Parent Object | OB03131 |
| 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 | |
| Commissioner | |
| Topic | registers the gift of a land, the name of which is not preserved, to a person named Niligalu Bud, and the immunities granted thereto |
| Date: | |
| Min | 900 |
| Max | 950 |
| Comment | Basis for dating: palaeography. The inscription is dated in the ninth year of an unnamed king who was the elder brother or cousin (bǟ) of the heir-apparent (mahapā), also unnamed, by whom the edict was issued. On the basis of the palaeography, the inscription can be assigned to a reign between Kassapa IV (r. 912–929) and Mahinda V (r. 1001–1017). Of the kings who reigned during this period, Senarath Paranavitana identified two who reigned for more than nine years and whose heir-apparent was either their younger brother or cousin, namely Kassapa V (r. 929–939) and Sena V (r. 991–1001). This inscription therefore probably belongs to one or other of these kings, although without further information it is impossible to draw any firm conclusions. |
| Hand | |
| Letter size | 3.81 cm |
| Description | The letters are, on average, 1½ inches (3.81 cm) in height. Sinhalese script of the first half of the tenth century. |
| Layout | |
| Campus: | |
| Width | 26.67 |
| Height | 80.01 |
| Description | The inscription is engraved across all four sides of the upper part of a quadrangular stone pillar. 54 lines are legible (20 lines on the first side, 6 lines on the second, 23 lines on the third and 5 lines on the fourth). The first five lines on the first side of the pillar are badly worn and the whole of the second side, except the first six lines, is altogether illegible. The lower portion of the pillar is missing. After the fifth line of the inscription on the fourth side of the pillar occur four symbols which are usually found at the close of pillar inscriptions of the ninth and tenth centuries. However, the record does not appear to have ended here. Possibly, the remaining part of the sentence was inscribed below these symbols on the missing portion of the pillar. Horizontal lines are drawn, roughly parallel to one another, at an average distance of 6¼ inches (15.875 cm) on three sides of the pillar, dividing the inscription into blocks of three or four lines each. |
| Decoration | |
| Bibliography | |
| References | The inscription was copied for scholarship for the first time by Senarath Paranavitana in 1931 (see Ceylon Journal of Science, Section G, vol. ii, p. 211). Edited and translated by Senarath Paranavitana in Epigraphia Zeylanica 4 (1934–41): 50–54, no. 6. |
| Add to bibliography | |
| Misc notes | In style, the document closely resembles the Poḷonnaruva Council Chamber pillar inscription (IN03158), many words and phrases being peculiar to both. |