This inscription is engraved round the edge of a moonstone placed at the bottom of a flight of steps leading to the dāgäba at an old vihara called Tammannǟgala in the Nǟgampaha Kōraḷē of the Anurādhapura District. It was first noticed for scholarship by H. C. P. Bell in the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon Annual Report for 1895 (p. 7, no. 14). Bell dated the inscription to the ninth century but Senarath Paranavitana argued on the basis of the palaeography for an earlier date, sometime between the reigns of Kassapa III (r. 732–738 A.D.) and Sena I (r. 846–866 A.D.). The inscription states that the moonstone on which it is engraved was a gift of a person named Valjeṭu of Piḷiyāna.
| Metadata | |
|---|---|
| Inscription ID | IN03185 |
| Title | Tammannǟgala Moonstone Inscription |
| Alternative titles | |
| Parent Object | OB03146 |
| Related Inscriptions | |
| Responsibility | |
| Author | Senarath Paranavitana |
| Print edition recorded by | |
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| Digitally edited by | |
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| Language | සිංහල |
| Reigning monarch | |
| Commissioner | |
| Topic | states that the moonstone on which it is engraved was a gift of a person named Valjeṭu of Piḷiyāna |
| Date: | |
| Min | 700 |
| Max | 850 |
| Comment | Basis for dating: palaeography. Bell dated the inscription to the ninth century but Senarath Paranavitana argued on the basis of the palaeography for an earlier date, sometime between the reigns of Kassapa III (r. 732–738 A.D.) and Sena I (r. 846–866 A.D.). |
| Hand | |
| Letter size | 15.24 cm |
| Description | The letters range from 3 to 6 inches (7.62 to 15.24 cm) in size. |
| Layout | |
| Campus: | |
| Width | 193.04 |
| Height | 15.24 |
| Description | One line engraved round the edge of a moonstone placed at the bottom of a flight of steps leading to the dāgäba at an old vihara called Tammannǟgala in the Nǟgampaha Kōraḷē of the Anurādhapura District. |
| Decoration | |
| Bibliography | |
| References | Edited and translated by Senarath Paranavitana in Epigraphia Zeylanica 4 (1934–41): 148–149, no. 17, VI. |
| Add to bibliography | |
| Misc notes | |