This inscription is engraved on the side of a boulder among the remains of an extensive ancient monastery on the rocky hill called Rājagala or Rāssahela in the Vävugam Patty of the Batticaloa District. A cave is formed underneath the boulder and there are a total of four inscriptions on the side of the rock. Of these inscriptions, only the present record can be definitely dated. It records a grant of lands to a monastery called Arittāra-vehera, which was undoubtedly the ancient name of the monastery at Rāssahela. The donor is named as Äpāy Daḷsiva, who can be identified with Ādipāda Dāṭhāsiva, a Rohaṇa prince mentioned in the Mahāvaṁsa as having been driven away from his principality in the reign of Udaya I. As this king’s reign lasted only five years from about 787 A.D., it is possible that the present inscription dates from the reign of Udaya I’s predecessor, Mahinda II, who reigned circa 767–787. At any rate, it is certain that the inscription belongs to the second half of the eighth century. On palaeographic grounds, two of the other inscriptions on the boulder (IN03190 and IN03191) can be attributed to the same period. They are also concerned with grants of lands by local rulers to the monastery. Only traces survive of the fourth inscription on the boulder, which seems to have a slightly later date.

Metadata
Inscription ID IN03192
Title Rāssahela Rock Inscription 3
Alternative titles
Parent Object OB03151
Related Inscriptions
Responsibility
Author Senarath Paranavitana
Print edition recorded by
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Language සිංහල
Reigning monarch
Commissioner Äpāy Daḷsiva (Ādipāda Dāṭhāsiva)
Topic records a grant of lands by an individual called Äpāy Daḷsiva to a monastery called Arittāra-vehera, which was undoubtedly the ancient name of the monastery at Rāssahela
Date:
Min 750
Max 800
Comment The inscription records a grant of land by an individual named Äpāy Daḷsiva, who can be identified with Ādipāda Dāṭhāsiva, a Rohaṇa prince mentioned in the Mahāvaṁsa as having been driven away from his principality in the reign of Udaya I. As this king’s reign lasted only five years from about 787 A.D., it is possible that the present inscription dates from the reign of Udaya I’s predecessor, Mahinda II, who reigned circa 767–787. At any rate, it is certain that the inscription belongs to the second half of the eighth century.
Hand
Letter size 13.97 cm
Description The letter size varies from 2 to 5½ inches (5.08 to 13.97 cm) in the present inscription, IN03191 and IN03192, all of which date from around the same time period and are engraved on the same rock, in height.
Layout
Campus:
Width 119.38
Height 137.16
Description Ten lines engraved on the side of a boulder. The inscription has weathered considerably but remains legible. It is situated about 10 feet (304.8 cm) to the north of IN03190 and IN03191, which are engraved on the same boulder.
Decoration
Bibliography
References A brief account of the inscriptions at Rāssahela was published in the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon Annual Report for 1935 (p. 9). Senarath Paranavitana produced an edition and translation of the present inscription, which were published in Epigraphia Zeylanica 4 (1934–41): 169–176, no. 20, III.
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