| Metadata | |
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| Object ID | OB03140 |
| Title | Vessagiri Rock B Rock-Cut Steps |
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| Inscription(s) | IN03022 IN03169 IN03170 IN03171 |
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| Responsibility | |
| Author | Senarath Paranavitana |
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| Description | |
| Material | Rock / gneiss |
| Object Type | Rock |
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| Details | A rock-cut flight of steps cut into the northern end of Rock B at Vessagiri, between Cave 9 (OB03013) and Cave 10 (OB03014). Four inscriptions (IN03169, IN03170, IN03171 and IN03172) are engraved on the eastern face of the rock to the south of the steps. IN03022 is engraved 80 feet (24.38 m) from the centre of the flight of steps. Eight and a half feet (2.59 m) to the north of this record are IN03169 and IN03170, which are engraved one below the other. A further nine feet (2.74 m) to the north lies IN03171. |
| History | |
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| Place | Vessagiri |
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| Place | Vessagiri |
| Authority | Paranavitana, S. (1934–41). ‘No. 15. Four Rock-Inscriptions from Vessagiriya at Anurādhapura,’ Epigraphia Zeylanica 4, pp. 128–136. |
| 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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