The inscription is incised in two panels either side of a natural crevice on the top of a boulder in an area of land known as Puvak-aram̆ba or Koṭṭangē-aram̆ba in the village of Koṭṭangē in the Mādurē Kōraḷē of the Vǟuḍavili Hatpattu in the Kuruṇǟgala District. It was first copied for scholarship by the Archaeological Department in 1931. The existence of an inscription at this place had previously been mentioned in the Return of the Architectural and Archaeological and other Antiquities existing in Ceylon, which was published by the Ceylon Government in 1890, but it is not clear whether the inscription in question was the present record or IN03165, which is engraved on another rock in the same vicinity.
The present inscription registers the grant of a village named Kaḷama to the general Loke Arakmenā, by the king Lokeśvara-bāhu Cakravartti, in recognition of the former’s services in defeating the Coḷas. The name Lokeśvara-bāhu in this record obviously stands for Lokis-sara or Lokeśvara of the chronicles. Two rulers of this name are mentioned in the historical writings of Sri Lanka, both of whom occupied the throne for short periods in troubled times. On palaeographic grounds, Senarath Paranavitana assigned this record to the second of these kings, who reigned for seven months at Poḷonnaruva in 1210 and was preceded and succeeded on the throne by queen Līlāvatī. The encounter, referred to in this record, between the Coḷas and the Sinhalese – presumably on Sri Lankan soil – is not mentioned in the chronicles.
| Metadata | |
|---|---|
| Inscription ID | IN03164 |
| Title | Koṭṭangē Rock Inscription 1 |
| Alternative titles | |
| Parent Object | OB03136 |
| Related Inscriptions | |
| Responsibility | |
| Author | Senarath Paranavitana |
| Print edition recorded by | |
| Source encoded | |
| Digitally edited by | |
| Edition improved by | |
| Authority for | |
| Metadata recorded by | |
| Authority for metadata | |
| Metadata improved by | |
| Authoriy for improved | |
| Language | සිංහල |
| Reigning monarch | Lokeśvara-bāhu |
| Commissioner | |
| Topic | registers the grant of a village named Kaḷama to the general Loke Arakmenā, by the king Lokeśvara-bāhu Cakravartti, in recognition of the former’s services in defeating the Coḷas |
| Date: | |
| Min | 1210 |
| Max | 1210 |
| Comment | The name Lokeśvara-bāhu in this record obviously stands for Lokis-sara or Lokeśvara of the chronicles. Two rulers of this name are mentioned in the historical writings of Sri Lanka, both of whom occupied the throne for short periods in troubled times. On palaeographic grounds, Senarath Paranavitana assigned this record to the second of these kings, who reigned for seven months at Poḷonnaruva in 1210. |
| Hand | |
| Letter size | 5.08 cm |
| Description | The letters vary in size from 1½ to 2 inches (3.81 to 5.08 cm). Sinhalese script of the thirteenth century. |
| Layout | |
| Campus: | |
| Width | |
| Height | |
| Description | 13 lines incised in two panels either side of a natural crevice on the top of a flat rock (8 lines on the left-hand panel, 5 lines on the right-hand panel). The panel on the left-hand side measures 3 feet 9½ inches (115.57 cm) by 2 feet ½ inch (62.23 cm) and is enclosed in a rectangular frame. Parallel horizontal lines, drawn at distances varying from 3½ to 2½ inches (8.89 to 6.35 cm) from one another, divide this area into eight unequal spaces in which the letters are engraved. The last letters of all the lines, excepting the fourth and the eighth, extend slightly beyond the frame. The right-hand side panel measure 4 feet ½ inch (123.19 cm) by 1 foot 3 inches (38.1 cm) and is also enclosed in a rectangular linear framing. It is divided into five spaces by horizontal parallel lines at a distance varying from 3¼ to 2¾ inches (8.255 to 6.985 cm) from one another. |
| Decoration | Above the left-hand panel are engraved figures of the sun and the crescent moon; a crow is engraved to the left of this panel, facing the inscription. The figure of a dog is engraved to the right of the right-hand panel, also facing the inscription. |
| Bibliography | |
| References | The existence of an inscription at this place was mentioned in the Return of the Architectural and Archaeological and other Antiquities existing in Ceylon, published by the Ceylon Government in 1890. A preliminary account of the inscription was published in the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon Annual Report for 1930–31, p. 6, and in the Ceylon Journal of Science, Section G, vol. ii, pp. 187–188 and 217. Edited and translated by Senarath Paranavitana in Epigraphia Zeylanica 4 (1934–41): 82–88, no. 11, I. |
| Add to bibliography | |
| Misc notes | IN03165 was discovered on another rock at the same site as the present inscription. |