Object type: Rock

This inscription is engraved on the side of a boulder among the remains of an extensive ancient monastery on the rocky hill called Rājagala or Rāssahela in the Vävugam Patty of the Batticaloa District. A cave is formed underneath the boulder and there are a total of four inscriptions on the side of the rock. The present inscription records a grant of lands by an individual called Sen – probably a local ruler of Rohaṇa – to a monastery called Arittāra-vehera, which was undoubtedly the ancient name of the monastery at Rāssahela. It is not possible to connect the donor named in the present inscription with any known historical personages but the inscription can be dated on palaeographic grounds to around the second half of the eighth century A.D. Two of the other inscriptions on the boulder (IN03191 and IN03192) are also concerned with land-grants to the monastery and, from their palaeography, they appear to date from the same period as the present inscription. Furthermore, the donor named in one of these inscriptions (IN03192) can be identified with a prince mentioned in the Mahāvaṁsa as having been alive in the reign of Udaya I, who ruled for five years from around 787. This historical evidence helps to confirm the dating of these three inscriptions to the eighth century. Only traces survive of the fourth inscription on the boulder, which seems to have a slightly later date.

Nītupatpāṇa Vihara (also known Girihandu Seya), Tiriyāy, Trincomalee

This inscription is engraved on a rock situated about 200 feet (60.96 m) to the south of the vaṭadāgē at the ancient Buddhist monastery now called Nītupatpāṇa (also known Girihandu Seya) near the village of Tiriyāy (Thiriyai). This monastery stands at the summit of a hill, known by the Tamil name of Kandasāmimalai (the Hill of the Lord Skanda), about a mile to the west of the village, which is located near the sea-coast, roughly twenty-nine miles to the north of Trincomalee in the Eastern Province. The inscription was discovered in 1931, as reported in the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon Annual Report for 1931–32 (pt. IV – Education, Science and Art [J], p. 19). It can be dated on palaeographic grounds to the late seventh or first half of the eighth century A.D. and is written in Sanskrit. As B. Ch. Chhabra (1934–41: 312) has shown, the inscription is in verse, the composer having employed the Nardaṭaka metre in the first ten stanzas and the Upajāti metre in the eleventh and final stanza. The engraver has allotted one line to each stanza.

The record begins with an account of some sea-faring merchants, before launching into a long eulogy of a shrine named Girikaṇḍi-caitya. The eulogy is followed by the pious wish of the author that, by the merit he has gained by praising the shrine, the world may be freed from the miseries of existence; this wish identifies the author as a Mahāyānist, something which can perhaps also be inferred from the fact that the document is written in Sanskrit. The next portion of the inscription states that Girikaṇḍi-caitya was founded by two groups of merchants. The record ends with the Buddhist formula about the transitory nature of mundane things.

Paranavitana (1934–41: 151–160) read the names of the groups of merchants who are stated in the inscription to have built the Girikaṇḍi-caitya as Trapussaka and Vallika, which he took to be corruptions of Trapuṣa (Tapussa in Pāli) and Bhallika (Bhalluka in the Nidānakathā), two merchants who offered food to the Buddha immediately after his enlightenment and were the recipients of some his hair. This led Paranavitana to conclude that the Girikaṇḍi-caitya at Tiriyāy was founded by these merchants to enshrine the hair-relics, although B. Ch. Chhabra (1934–41: 313–314) has challenged this interpretation (see Misc. Notes for discussion).

This inscription is incised on a rock situated to the west of the ruined stupa at Mädagama Vihāra in the Tisāva Kōraḷē of the Kuruṇǟgala District. Another inscription (IN03181) is written on the same rock in an almost identical script. Both inscriptions deal with matters related to the freeing of slaves and can be dated on palaeographic grounds to the seventh century A.D.

This inscription is incised on a rock situated to the west of the ruined stupa at Mädagama Vihāra in the Tisāva Kōraḷē of the Kuruṇǟgala District. Another inscription (IN03182) is written on the same rock in an almost identical script. Both inscriptions deal with matters related to the freeing of slaves and can be dated on palaeographic grounds to the seventh century A.D.

This inscription is engraved on a rock near the ruined stupa at a place called Veherakema in the heart of a dense forest, about six miles to the south-east of Lahugala in the Pānama Pattu of the Batticaloa District. It can be assigned on palaeographic grounds to around the seventh century A.D. and records that a ruler named Vahaka Maharaja caused a caitya to be built at the Macaḷa-vehera, which was presumably the name of the ancient monastery at this site. From his adoption of the title maharaja, it is clear that Vahaka was an independent ruler but Paranavitana could find no reference to a king of this name in the chronicles. He was perhaps a prince who, in the unsettled political conditions which prevailed in Anurādhapura during the greater part of the seventh century, set himself up as an independent sovereign of Rohaṇa, within which principality the inscription lies.

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.

The present inscription is engraved on the eastern face of Rock B. In 1904, Don Martino de Zilva Wickremasinghe noted the existence on an inscription – or possibly two inscriptions – in this area but he was unable to make out their contents. Two decades later, Senarath Paranavitana gave a more detailed account of the inscriptions on this part of the rock, identifying four separate records, one of which is dealt with here (for the others, see IN03022, IN03169 and IN03170). None of these four inscriptions is dated. However, they can be assigned on palaeographic grounds to the sixth century A.D. It is also significant that one (IN03022) refers to Boya-Opulavana-Kasapi-gari (P. Bodhi-Uppalavaṇṇa-Kassapagiri) and another (the present inscription) mentions Kasaba-giriye. These were alternative names for the ancient monastery of Issarasamaṇa-vihāra, which Paranavitana connects with modern Vessagiriya. This monastery was richly endowed by king Kassapa I, who renamed the foundation after himself and his two daughters, Bodhi and Uppalavaṇṇā, as reflected in the inscriptions here. Hence these records must postdate Kassapa I’s accession to the throne, which Paranavitana places around 526 A.D. All four inscriptions record how certain named individuals obtained freedom from slavery for themselves or their relatives. In the present inscription, this freedom is said to have been granted after payments were made to the monastery, suggesting that the monastery owned the slaves in question.

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.

The present inscription is engraved on the eastern face of Rock B. In 1904, Don Martino de Zilva Wickremasinghe noted the existence on an inscription – or possibly two inscriptions – in this area but he was unable to make out their contents. Two decades later, Senarath Paranavitana gave a more detailed account of the inscriptions on this part of the rock, identifying four separate records, one of which is dealt with here (for the others, see IN03022, IN03169 and IN03171). None of these four inscriptions is dated. However, they can be assigned on palaeographic grounds to the sixth century A.D. It is also significant that one (IN03022) refers to Boya-Opulavana-Kasapi-gari (P. Bodhi-Uppalavaṇṇa-Kassapagiri) and another (IN03171) mentions Kasaba-giriye. These were alternative names for the ancient monastery of Issarasamaṇa-vihāra, which Paranavitana connects with modern Vessagiriya. This monastery was richly endowed by king Kassapa I, who renamed the foundation after himself and his two daughters, Bodhi and Uppalavaṇṇā, as reflected in the inscriptions here. Hence these records must postdate Kassapa I’s accession to the throne, which Paranavitana places around 526 A.D. All four inscriptions record how certain named individuals obtained freedom from slavery for themselves or their relatives. In one of the inscriptions (IN03171), this freedom is said to have been granted after payments were made to the monastery, suggesting that the monastery owned the slaves in question.