This inscription is engraved on a stone slab, which was discovered by Senarath Paranavitana in 1933. Paranavitana found the slab among the ruins of a Śaiva kōvil at a place named Pālamōṭṭai near Kantaḷāy in the Trincomalee District of the Eastern Province. The architectural style of these ruins suggests that they date from the Poḷonnaruva period – a conclusion which is confirmed by the inscription. The inscription is badly weathered and some letters in the first four lines can only be read conjecturally. Due to the damaged condition of the record, it is difficult to decipher the name of the king in whose reign the record is dated. Senarath Paranavitana initially read the king’s name as Jayabāhu and the regnal year as the eighth (Archaeological Survey of Ceylon Annual Report for 1933, p. 14). However, after consulting with K. V. Subrahmanya Aiyer, Paranavitana revised his reading, taking the king’s name to be Vijayabāhu and the number of the regnal year, which is given in figures, to be forty-two (Epigraphia Zeylanica 4, pp. 192–193). If these readings are correct, the inscription can be assigned to the reign of Vijayabāhu I (r. 1056–1111), although this cannot be accepted with certainty.

 

The purpose of the inscription is to register donations to the god Śiva in the temple named Teṉ-Kailāsam (the Southern Kailāsam) at Kantaḷāy by a female Brahmin named Nāgaiccāṉi in memory of her husband. The inscription also records that the shrine had the name of Vijayarāja Īśvaram and that Kantḷāy was also called Vijayarāja Caturvedimaṅgalam. The appellation of the shrine suggests that it was founded by or under the patronage of Vijayabāhu I. The chronicles and other inscriptions represent this monarch as a great patron of Buddhism but clearly his zeal for Buddhism did not prevent him from extending his patronage to other faiths practiced by his subjects. The term ‘Caturvedimaṅgalam’ frequently features in South Indian inscriptions, where it is appended to the names of villages inhabited by Brahmins. As it was called Vijayarāja Caturvedimaṅgalam, Kantaḷāy must have had a colony of Brahmins who lived there under the protection of Vijayabāhu I. An inscription of king Niśśaṁka Malla found at the site (IN03105) indicates that Kantaḷāy kept its character as a seat of Brahmins for at least a century longer. In the present inscription, the charitable endowment is placed under the protection of the Veḷaikkāra regiment of Śrī Vikkirama Calāmega. As indicated by the Poḷonnaruva Slab Inscription of the Vēḷäikkāṟas (IN03103), the practice of placing a religious institution and its endowments under the protection of a regiment like the Veḷaikkāras was not unknown.

Epigraphia Zeylanica
Paranavitana, S. (1934–41). ‘No. 24. A Tamil Slab-Inscription from Pālamōṭṭai,’ Epigraphia Zeylanica 4, pp. 195–196.

[Lines 1–9] Hail! Prosperity! In the (42nd) year of King (CiriCaṅgabodi)-varman alias Śrī (Vijayabā)hudevar. [The following are] the religious donations made to [the god] ŚrīVijayarāja Īśvaramuḍaiyār at [the shrine called] (Teṉ)-Kaiḷāsam in Kantalāy alias VijayarājaCaturvvedimaṅgalam by Nāgaiccāni, the wife of the Brāhmaṇa Kārāmbacceṭṭu Yajñiyakramavittaṉ, residing at . . . . ., after the death of her husband Yajñiyakramavittaṉ, and in his memory:—

 

[Lines 9–21] A crown of six kaḻañcus of gold; a necklace of three kaḻañcus of gold; 1 kācu granted for one evening lamp; 8 kācu granted so that its interest may be secured permanently for the benefit of the person who maintains the sacred flower garden; 1 kācu granted for the purpose of making up any loss to this gold; 2 kācu granted for the purpose of making up any loss, having placed fore-head marks on seven females (dedicating them) as dancing girls of the god, 23 kācu were deposited as an endowment, so that the interest may be secured permanently for their benefit. Thus 35 kācu and nine kaḻañcus of gold have been granted so that the perpetual endowments may continue from what is accrued as interest, the capital remaining unspent.

 

[Lines 21–25] In order that this charity, performed in this manner, may continue without any loss, the glorious name of the Veḷaikkāras of the Left-hand, (composed of) the selected (troops) of Śrī Vikkirama-Calāmega, is given to it. Prosperity!

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