Vessagiri, or more commonly in Sinhalese Vessagiriya, is the traditional name of a forest-bound cluster of rocks in Anurādhapura. The site features three hummock-boulders of gneiss rock in a line from north to south (Rock A, Rock B and Rock C). The hummocks are surrounded by the ruins of a monastery, which had its cells in the caves of Rocks B and C (twenty-three caves in total). Some of the caves are inscribed with dedications to the Buddhist priesthood, plus there are a number of other rock inscriptions at the site.
The present inscription is engraved on the eastern face of Rock B. In 1904, Don Martino de Zilva Wickremasinghe noted the existence on an inscription – or possibly two inscriptions – in this area but he was unable to make out their contents. Two decades later, Senarath Paranavitana gave a more detailed account of the inscriptions on this part of the rock, identifying four separate records, one of which is dealt with here (for the others, see IN03022, IN03170 and IN03171). None of these four inscriptions is dated. However, they can be assigned on palaeographic grounds to the sixth century A.D. It is also significant that one (IN03022) refers to Boya-Opulavana-Kasapi-gari (P. Bodhi-Uppalavaṇṇa-Kassapagiri) and another (IN03171) mentions Kasaba-giriye. These were alternative names for the ancient monastery of Issarasamaṇa-vihāra, which Paranavitana connects with modern Vessagiriya. This monastery was richly endowed by king Kassapa I, who renamed the foundation after himself and his two daughters, Bodhi and Uppalavaṇṇā, as reflected in the inscriptions here. Hence these records must postdate Kassapa I’s accession to the throne, which Paranavitana places around 526 A.D. All four inscriptions record how certain named individuals obtained freedom from slavery for themselves or their relatives. In one of the inscriptions (IN03171), this freedom is said to have been granted after payments were made to the monastery, suggesting that the monastery owned the slaves in question.
| Metadata | |
|---|---|
| Inscription ID | IN03169 |
| Title | Vessagiri Rock B Inscription 3 |
| Alternative titles | |
| Parent Object | OB03140 |
| 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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| Metadata improved by | |
| Authoriy for improved | |
| Language | සිංහල |
| Reigning monarch | |
| Commissioner | |
| Topic | records how a brick-layer named Boyagonula obtained freedom from slavery for his children |
| Date: | |
| Min | 526 |
| Max | 600 |
| Comment | Basis for dating: palaeography. The present inscription is part of a group of four inscriptions on the eastern face of Rock B at Vessagiri. Of the other inscriptions in this group, one refers to Boya-Opulavana-Kasapi-gari (P. Bodhi-Uppalavaṇṇa-Kassapagiri) and another (IN03171) mentions Kasaba-giriye. These were alternative names for the ancient monastery of Issarasamaṇa-vihāra, which Paranavitana connects with modern Vessagiriya. This monastery was richly endowed by king Kassapa I, who renamed the foundation after himself and his two daughters, Bodhi and Uppalavaṇṇā, as reflected in the inscriptions here. Hence these records must postdate Kassapa I’s accession to the throne, which Paranavitana places around 526 A.D. |
| Hand | |
| Letter size | 5.08 cm |
| Description | The average size of the letters is about two inches (5.08 cm). The script represents the transitional stage between Brāhmī and the medieval Sinhalese. Until about the third or fourth century A.D., the Brāhmī script was practically the same in Sri Lanka as it was in India. However, around the fifth century, the development of the alphabet in Sri Lanka began to diverge from the Indian tradition and, by the eighth century, it had evolved into a distinctive alphabet from which modern Sinhalese writing is directly descended. This inscription comes from the middle of this transitional period. |
| Layout | |
| Campus: | |
| Width | 38.1 |
| Height | 144.78 |
| Description | 3 lines engraved on the eastern face of Rock B at Vessagiri, immediately above IN03170. These two inscriptions are located eight and a half (2.59 m) to the north of IN03022, which is situated about eighty feet (24.38 m) to the south of the rock-cut flight of steps between Cave 9 (OB03013) and Cave 10 (OB03014). The campus dimensions given here describe the area covered by the present inscription and IN03170. |
| Decoration | |
| Bibliography | |
| References | In Epigraphia Zeylanica 1 (1904–12): 21, no. 2, Don Martino de Zilva Wickremasinghe mentioned the existence on an inscription – or possibly two inscriptions – in the area where the present record is located but he was unable to decipher the text. Two decades later, Senarath Paranavitana successfully edited and translated the inscription in Epigraphia Zeylanica 4 (1934–41): 128–136, no. 15. |
| Add to bibliography | |
| Misc notes | |