| Metadata | |
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| Object ID | OB03010 |
| Title | Vessagiri Rock B Cave 4 |
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| Inscription(s) | IN03012 IN03021 |
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| Responsibility | |
| Author | Don Martino de Zilva Wickremasinghe |
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| Description | |
| Material | Rock / gneiss |
| Object Type | Cave |
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| Details | A cave underneath the central boulder in a line of three boulders positioned towards the south end of Rock B at Vessagiri. The south face of the boulder is sheer. There is a dripline along the brow of the cave facing west, becoming a double dripline in places. Underneath the dripline is an inscription (IN03012). A later inscription (IN03021) is inscribed on the left at the top of the rock-cut steps to the west of the cave. |
| History | |
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| Place | Vessagiri |
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| Place | Vessagiri |
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| Details | 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. The site is traditionally identified as that of Vessagiri Vihāra, stated to have been built by King Dēvānampiya Tissa in the third century B.C. This identification is supported by the probable age of the cave inscriptions, the style of the ruined buildings and the relative position of the site, in respect to the neighbouring Isurumuṇiya (Issarasamaṇaka) Vihāra, also built by Dēvānampiya Tissa. |
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