Material: Stone / unspecified

This inscription is engraved round the edge of a moonstone placed at the bottom of a flight of steps leading to the dāgäba at an old vihara called Tammannǟgala in the Nǟgampaha Kōraḷē of the Anurādhapura District. It was first noticed for scholarship by H. C. P. Bell in the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon Annual Report for 1895 (p. 7, no. 14). Bell dated the inscription to the ninth century but Senarath Paranavitana argued on the basis of the palaeography for an earlier date, sometime between the reigns of Kassapa III (r. 732–738 A.D.) and Sena I (r. 846–866 A.D.). The inscription states that the moonstone on which it is engraved was a gift of a person named Valjeṭu of Piḷiyāna.

Ambasthala Dagoba, Mihintale

This inscription is engraved on a flagstone in the pavement of the Ambasthala Cetiya at Mihintaḷē. It can be dated on palaeographic grounds to the eighth century A.D. and consists of two lines of unequal length, the first measuring 3 feet 6 inches (106.68 cm) and the second 2 feet 1 inch (63.5 cm). This suggests that the record may be unfinished or that some letters have been effaced at the end of the second line. Due to the incomplete nature of the inscription, its purpose is not clear. In the surviving portion of the record, an individual named Mihindal (Mahinda) states that he salutes the officers in the palace of his king.

This inscription is engraved on a stone slab preserved in the Archaeological Museum at Anurādhapura. The slab’s original provenance is not known, the museum’s records stating only that it was removed to the museum from the Government Agent’s premises at Anurādhapura. It appears that the slab was previously used as a tread in a flight of steps. The inscription consists of two lines and can be assigned on palaeographic grounds to the end of the seventh century A.D. It declares that the step on which it is written was the gift of an individual, presumably a monk, named Daḷanā.

This inscription is one of several incised on the steps leading to a ruined shrine near the reconstructed porch known as ‘the Stone Canopy’ or ‘Burrows’ Pavilion’ in the area of the Abhayagiri vihara at Anurādhapura. Eight of these inscriptions remain legible. On the basis of palaeographic evidence, they can be dated to the second half of the sixth century or the first half of the seventh century. They register grants of money by various individuals to the Abhayagiri-vihāra for the maintenance of slaves.

This inscription is one of several incised on the steps leading to a ruined shrine near the reconstructed porch known as ‘the Stone Canopy’ or ‘Burrows’ Pavilion’ in the area of the Abhayagiri vihara at Anurādhapura. Eight of these inscriptions remain legible. On the basis of palaeographic evidence, they can be dated to the second half of the sixth century or the first half of the seventh century. They register grants of money by various individuals to the Abhayagiri-vihāra for the maintenance of slaves.

This inscription is one of several incised on the steps leading to a ruined shrine near the reconstructed porch known as ‘the Stone Canopy’ or ‘Burrows’ Pavilion’ in the area of the Abhayagiri vihara at Anurādhapura. Eight of these inscriptions remain legible. On the basis of palaeographic evidence, they can be dated to the second half of the sixth century or the first half of the seventh century. They register grants of money by various individuals to the Abhayagiri-vihāra for the maintenance of slaves.

This inscription is one of several incised on the steps leading to a ruined shrine near the reconstructed porch known as ‘the Stone Canopy’ or ‘Burrows’ Pavilion’ in the area of the Abhayagiri vihara at Anurādhapura. Eight of these inscriptions remain legible. On the basis of palaeographic evidence, they can be dated to the second half of the sixth century or the first half of the seventh century. They register grants of money by various individuals to the Abhayagiri-vihāra for the maintenance of slaves.