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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.

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. The present inscription records a grant of lands by an individual called Vīrāṁkurā – possibly a local ruler of Rohaṇa – to a monastery called Arittāra-vehera, which was undoubtedly the ancient name of the monastery at Rāssahela. It is not possible to connect the donor named in the present inscription with any known historical personages but the inscription can be dated on palaeographic grounds to around the second half of the eighth century A.D. Two of the other inscriptions on the boulder (IN03190 and IN03192) are also concerned with land-grants to the monastery and, from their palaeography, they appear to date from the same period as the present inscription. Furthermore, the donor named in one of these inscriptions (IN03192) can be identified with a prince mentioned in the Mahāvaṁsa as having been alive in the reign of Udaya I, who ruled for five years from around 787. This historical evidence helps to confirm the dating of these three inscriptions to the eighth century. Only traces survive of the fourth inscription on the boulder, which seems to have a slightly later date.

Buddhist ruins at Rajagala, Ampara District, Eastern Province

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. The present inscription records a grant of lands by an individual called Sen – probably a local ruler of Rohaṇa – to a monastery called Arittāra-vehera, which was undoubtedly the ancient name of the monastery at Rāssahela. It is not possible to connect the donor named in the present inscription with any known historical personages but the inscription can be dated on palaeographic grounds to around the second half of the eighth century A.D. Two of the other inscriptions on the boulder (IN03191 and IN03192) are also concerned with land-grants to the monastery and, from their palaeography, they appear to date from the same period as the present inscription. Furthermore, the donor named in one of these inscriptions (IN03192) can be identified with a prince mentioned in the Mahāvaṁsa as having been alive in the reign of Udaya I, who ruled for five years from around 787. This historical evidence helps to confirm the dating of these three inscriptions to the eighth century. Only traces survive of the fourth inscription on the boulder, which seems to have a slightly later date.

Magul Maha Viharaya, Lahugala

This fragmentary inscription is engraved on three sides of a broken stone pillar found among the ruins of an ancient monastery situated in the Pānama Pattu of the Batticaloa District, about a mile to the south of the eighth mile-stone on the road from Potuvil to Vällavāya. The ancient name of this monastery was Rūṇu-maha-vehera; it is now known as Magul-maha-vihāra. The upper half of the pillar has been broken off and lost, resulting in the loss of large parts of the inscription. The record can be dated, on palaeographic grounds, to the fourteenth century. The extant portion of the inscription records that Rūṇu-maha-vehera, the ancient monastery at the site, was completely renovated by Vihāra-mahā-devī, the consort of the two brother kings named Parākramabāhu, after it had fallen into ruin and that she endowed it with lands for its maintenance. It seems that the inscription originally included a detailed account of the successful campaign fought by the brother kings after the Coḷa army but the inscription is mutilated just at the point where the reference to this historical event begins. The pillar was apparently set up after the demise of these kings, since the inscription tells us in the past tense that Vihāra-mahā-devī ‘was the chief consort of the two brother kings’. Since these brothers are described as ruling over Rohaṇa in another inscription found at Magul-maha-vihāra (IN03188), it seems likely that they were local princes whose authority was confined to this region, rather than paramount sovereigns of Sri Lanka.

Magul Maha Viharaya, Lahugala

This inscription is engraved on a stone slab found to the left of the flight of steps at the entrance to a ruined structure on the site of an ancient monastery situated in the Pānama Pattu of the Batticaloa District, about a mile to the south of the eighth mile-stone on the road from Potuvil to Vällavāya. The ancient name of this monastery was Rūṇu-maha-vehera; it is now known as Magul-maha-vihāra. The present inscription can be dated, on palaeographic grounds, to the fourteenth century. It is written as a palimpsest over a long tenth-century inscription which has thus been obliterated, save for thirteen lines at the end. The later inscription records that Rūṇu-maha-vehera, the ancient monastery at the site, was completely renovated by Vihāra-mahā-devī, the consort of the two brother kings named Pärakumbā, after it had fallen into ruin and that she endowed it with lands for its maintenance. Since these brothers are described in this inscription as ruling over Rohaṇa, it seems likely that they were local princes whose authority was confined to this region, rather than paramount sovereigns of Sri Lanka.

Nītupatpāṇa Vihara (also known Girihandu Seya), Tiriyāy, Trincomalee

This inscription is engraved on a rock situated about 200 feet (60.96 m) to the south of the vaṭadāgē at the ancient Buddhist monastery now called Nītupatpāṇa (also known Girihandu Seya) near the village of Tiriyāy (Thiriyai). This monastery stands at the summit of a hill, known by the Tamil name of Kandasāmimalai (the Hill of the Lord Skanda), about a mile to the west of the village, which is located near the sea-coast, roughly twenty-nine miles to the north of Trincomalee in the Eastern Province. The inscription was discovered in 1931, as reported in the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon Annual Report for 1931–32 (pt. IV – Education, Science and Art [J], p. 19). It can be dated on palaeographic grounds to the late seventh or first half of the eighth century A.D. and is written in Sanskrit. As B. Ch. Chhabra (1934–41: 312) has shown, the inscription is in verse, the composer having employed the Nardaṭaka metre in the first ten stanzas and the Upajāti metre in the eleventh and final stanza. The engraver has allotted one line to each stanza.

The record begins with an account of some sea-faring merchants, before launching into a long eulogy of a shrine named Girikaṇḍi-caitya. The eulogy is followed by the pious wish of the author that, by the merit he has gained by praising the shrine, the world may be freed from the miseries of existence; this wish identifies the author as a Mahāyānist, something which can perhaps also be inferred from the fact that the document is written in Sanskrit. The next portion of the inscription states that Girikaṇḍi-caitya was founded by two groups of merchants. The record ends with the Buddhist formula about the transitory nature of mundane things.

Paranavitana (1934–41: 151–160) read the names of the groups of merchants who are stated in the inscription to have built the Girikaṇḍi-caitya as Trapussaka and Vallika, which he took to be corruptions of Trapuṣa (Tapussa in Pāli) and Bhallika (Bhalluka in the Nidānakathā), two merchants who offered food to the Buddha immediately after his enlightenment and were the recipients of some his hair. This led Paranavitana to conclude that the Girikaṇḍi-caitya at Tiriyāy was founded by these merchants to enshrine the hair-relics, although B. Ch. Chhabra (1934–41: 313–314) has challenged this interpretation (see Misc. Notes for discussion).