Material: Stone / unspecified

Kiri Vehera, Kataragama, Sri Lanka

The inscription is engraved on a stone slab, which was discovered among the ruins of the Kirivehera stupa at Kataragama. The discovery was recorded by Edward Müller in his Ancient Inscriptions in Ceylon (1883). Writing in the early 1930s, Senarath Paranavitana recorded that the slab was at that time stood upright some 50 feet (15.2 m) to the south of the main entrance to the stupa. The inscription can be dated on the basis of the palaeography to the first or second century A.D. It records that an elder of the Buddhist Church called Nanda enlarged the caitya (i.e. the Kirivehera stupa) and got the monks at Akujuka to construct flights of steps at the four entrances.

The inscription is engraved on a stone slab. It starts on the front of the slab and continues onto the right side. The slab was found in Eppāvaḷa (Eppawala) in North-Central Province and subsequently transferred to the premises of the Archaeological Commissioner at Anuradhapura. The uninscribed portion of the slab contains a socket to fit into another stone, suggesting that, before it was utilised for the purpose of inscription, the slab served some architectural purpose. The first five lines of the inscription are badly preserved and a portion of the surface has been lost from the right side of the slab, obliterating about seven lines of writing. As the beginning of the inscription is not legible, it is not possible to make out the date but the text may be attributed on palaeographic grounds to the latter half of the tenth century A.D. It is concerned with the registration of an agreement entered into by the saṁgha of a certain monastery, stating that they would, at the end of the vassa season every year, supply gifts of rice, etc., to the brethren in return for some quantities of grains and  other provisions placed at their disposal by one Mahin Agbohi.

The inscription is engraved on a broken guardstone found on the site of an ancient and overgrown vihara in Eppāvaḷa (Eppawala) in North-Central Province; the discovery was reported in the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon for the year 1890 and the guardstone was subsequently transferred to the premises of the Archaeological Commissioner at Anuradhapura. The lower part of the stone is missing but the inscription is complete except for the first two lines, which are too weathered to be read. Although the date of the inscription is no longer legible, the text may be attributed on palaeographic grounds to the latter half of the tenth century A.D. It is concerned with the registration of a gift to the image house and the Bō-tree at the Pamagalu Monastery by a person named Ukuṇuhusu Kottā. This was made by investing eight kaḷan̆das of gold in land and by depositing two kaḷan̆das so that the interest might be paid in paddy. Two more kaḷan̆das of gold were invested for the purpose of supplying curds and honey and for the maintenance of the canopy of the altar.

The inscription is engraved on a mutilated pillar-slab, which was discovered near the spill (vān–äla) of the Tōpāväva in Poḷonnaruva. The slab was subsequently moved to the Archaeological Office in Anuradhapura, where it was seen by Senarath Paranavitana sometime before 1933; Paranavitana then published an edition of the text in the third volume of Epigraphia Zeylanica. The upper part of the pillar-slab is missing and the surviving fragment is irregularly shaped. The inscription states that it was issued by ‘the Kālinga Monarch’ – a reference to king Niśśaṁka Malla, who reigned from 1187 to 1196 A.D. However, unlike other inscriptions of this king, it does not contain any mention of Niśśaṁka Malla’s alleged military achievements, nor does it boast of his greatness. Instead, it is addressed to the officials of the treasury. The opening portion of the inscription is missing but it appears that the text was prefaced with three quatrains containing maxims on political morals. The main part of the inscription records that the king had become suspicious about the integrity of the accountants of the treasury; he exhorts them to inform the authorities before taking anything from the treasury and threatens those who fail to do so with royal disfavour, hinting at dire consequences. It is a sign of the corruption plaguing the kingdom at this time that Niśśaṁka Malla found it necessary to issue an edict of this nature. Although he attempted to introduce salutary reforms, the country was plunged into a period of economic uncertainty and political anarchy after his death. Indeed, his own extravagant expenditure on building projects and displays of power may have contributed to weakening the exchequer.

The inscription is engraved on all four sides of a broken pillar discovered in Giritaḷē, a village seven miles to the north-west of Poḷonnaruva, where it was first recorded by H. C. P. Bell in the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon Annual Report for 1905 (p. 39, no. 8). The pillar was subsequently brought to the premises of the Archaeological Commissioner at Anurādhapura, where it was seen by Senarath Paranavitana sometime before 1933. The lower part of the pillar is missing and the portions of the inscription on the second and fourth sides of the pillar are no longer legible. It is, however, apparent from the surviving parts of the inscription that, like the majority of pillar inscriptions of the tenth century, it is concerned with a grant of immunities to a certain land. The inscription is dated in the first year of King Udā Sirisaṅgbō, who is described as the son of Mahinda, the sub-king (or heir apparent) and who can therefore be identified as Udaya II (r. 952–955 A.D.).