Language: Sinhalese Prakrit

The hill-range of Riṭigala is located about twenty-five miles south-east of Anurādhapura and eighteen miles north-east of Dam̆bulla. The range has numerous caves, rocks, ruins and inscriptions. Wickremasinghe describes four groups of inscriptions at different locations in the mountain range:

[1] Āṇḍiyā-kanda (east spur) – 10 cave-inscriptions.

[2] Karam̆bǟ-hīnna (north-west spur) – 2 cave-inscriptions (of which only one is described by Wickremasinghe).

[3] Nā-ulpata, also called Nā-arambädda-hīnna (west and south-west spur) – 1 cave-inscription; 4 rock-inscriptions (of which only three are described by Wickremasinghe).

[4] Vēväl-tänna (lower eastern spur) – 1 cave-inscription; 1 rock-inscription.

The hill-range of Riṭigala is located about twenty-five miles south-east of Anurādhapura and eighteen miles north-east of Dam̆bulla. The range has numerous caves, rocks, ruins and inscriptions. Wickremasinghe describes four groups of inscriptions at different locations in the mountain range:

[1] Āṇḍiyā-kanda (east spur) – 10 cave-inscriptions.

[2] Karam̆bǟ-hīnna (north-west spur) – 2 cave-inscriptions (of which only one is described by Wickremasinghe).

[3] Nā-ulpata, also called Nā-arambädda-hīnna (west and south-west spur) – 1 cave-inscription; 4 rock-inscriptions (of which only three are described by Wickremasinghe).

[4] Vēväl-tänna (lower eastern spur) – 1 cave-inscription; 1 rock-inscription.

The hill-range of Riṭigala is located about twenty-five miles south-east of Anurādhapura and eighteen miles north-east of Dam̆bulla. The range has numerous caves, rocks, ruins and inscriptions. Wickremasinghe describes four groups of inscriptions at different locations in the mountain range:

[1] Āṇḍiyā-kanda (east spur) – 10 cave-inscriptions.

[2] Karam̆bǟ-hīnna (north-west spur) – 2 cave-inscriptions (of which only one is described by Wickremasinghe).

[3] Nā-ulpata, also called Nā-arambädda-hīnna (west and south-west spur) – 1 cave-inscription; 4 rock-inscriptions (of which only three are described by Wickremasinghe).

[4] Vēväl-tänna (lower eastern spur) – 1 cave-inscription; 1 rock-inscription.

The hill-range of Riṭigala is located about twenty-five miles south-east of Anurādhapura and eighteen miles north-east of Dam̆bulla. The range has numerous caves, rocks, ruins and inscriptions. Wickremasinghe describes four groups of inscriptions at different locations in the mountain range:

[1] Āṇḍiyā-kanda (east spur) – 10 cave-inscriptions.

[2] Karam̆bǟ-hīnna (north-west spur) – 2 cave-inscriptions (of which only one is described by Wickremasinghe).

[3] Nā-ulpata, also called Nā-arambädda-hīnna (west and south-west spur) – 1 cave-inscription; 4 rock-inscriptions (of which only three are described by Wickremasinghe).

[4] Vēväl-tänna (lower eastern spur) – 1 cave-inscription; 1 rock-inscription.

The inscription was found near Perimiyankulam or Perumäiyaṉ-kuḷam, “the tank of the great personage”, or Perumäiyāṉa-kuḷam, “the great tank”, situated on the path to Galkaḍawala, one and a half miles north of the Sacred Bōdhi-tree at Anurādhapura. Müller (1883: 27) describes the inscription as “on a flat rock by the side of a hollowed-out cave”. There are many stone pillars near the place, which is north-west of the Laṅkārāmaya. The inscription is on the whole very well preserved. It consists of 4 lines recording a gift of revenue, derived from water supply in Palinakaraka tank in Tihalaka-karisa and in Ketavalika tank at Amanaratana, to a thēra named Majibuka (or -bika) for looking after certain dilapidated buildings at Patnagala belonging to the architect Ayisayi, son of Batakaya, keeper of the royal store.

The inscription is situated in the ruins of an ancient site, close by the Ratmale wewa, south-west from Anurādhapura, not far from the Kurunegala Road. Four lines are engraved on a large slab rock. The inscription mentions three names of kings: Devānapiya Tisa-maharaja, Devānapiya Puṭikaṇa Gamiṇi Abhaya-maharaja, Devānapiya Naka-maharaja. These have been identified by Goldschmidt and Müller as the kings Vaṅkanāsika Tissa, Gaja-bāhu and Mahallaka Nāga of the Mahāvaṁsa. The inscription records the donation from the king Mahallaka Nāga (circa A.D. 135-141) of gruel, boiled rice, undergarments and silk outer garments for the Vassa ceremony to 20 monks at Vihirabijaka and at Muṭigulika and Parivataka monasteries.

Vessagiri rock shelters, Anurādhapura

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.