Person: H. W. Codrington

The inscription is engraved on a charred copper plate. When H. W. Codrington recorded the plate was in the third volume of Epigraphia Zeylanica in the 1930s, he noted that it was in the possession of the in the possession of the Palkum̆bura Vihārē in Hārispattuva of the Kandy District. However, the record relates to a different temple. The plate has been badly damaged by fire. It is dated in the reign of Bhuvanaika Bāhu VII and records a grant of land, subject to a payment to Viṣṇu, to the Mahā Thero of the Senevirat-muḷa establishment.

The inscription is cut in bold letters on a rock in the village of Maḍavaḷa (Madawala) in the Pāta Dumbara division of Kandy District. It records a grant of land made to a silversmith Paramaṇāyā of Siddāvulla and his son Suriyā by King Siri San̆gbō Śrī Parākrama Bāhu VI in the year following the forty-sixth of his reign in the presence of Dantoṭa-vature Devan and Divāṇavatte Laṁkā Adhikārin. The signatures of these dignitaries are reproduced in the upper left-hand corner of the record as Äpaṇa and Joti Siṭāṇa. The latter is probably the ruler of the hill country, whose later rebellion is described in the Rājāvaliya. Parākrama Bāhu VI ascended to the throne in 1412 A.D. Accordingly, the date of the grant – the full moon of Vesak in his forty-seventh year – fell in April 1458.

The inscription is engraved on a slab-pillar, which originally stood in Kandēvatta or Kandē Disānāyaka Mudiyansēlāgē-vatta situated in Pamunētänna, a hamlet of Kevulgama village in Gampaha Kōraḷē West of Uḍa Dumbara in Kandy District. Around the turn of the twentieth century, the pillar was blasted in search of hidden treasure. The upper and main part of the pillar were then removed to the local vihārē and built into the inner doorway of the temple, concealing three lines of the inscription at the top and two at the bottom. It was copied in this partially obscured state by the Archaeological Survey in 1909. H. W. Codrington later convinced the priest at the vihārē to excavate the pillar, revealing the hidden lines of the inscription. The remaining fragment of the pillar was also brought by the priest from its original site to the pansala below the temple, enabling Codrington to provide a complete edition of the inscription in the third volume of Epigraphia Zeylanica (pp. 230–235, no. 23). Luckily, the blasting and resulting fragmentation of the pillar did not cause any irreparable damage to the inscription.

The inscription is written in Sinhalese and dated on the first day of the waxing moon of Hila in the first year of king Siri San̆gabo Kālin̆ga Vijaya Bāhu. Three rulers are known to have used the name Kālin̆ga Vijaya Bāhu. In a slab inscription found at the Hatadage in Polonnaruwa (IN03099), Sāhasa Malla is so styled with the prefix Siri San̆gabo, precisely as in the present inscription. According to the Nikāya Saṅgrahava, Māgha also bore the name Kālin̆ga Vijaya Bāhu but it is not known whether he used the biruda Siri San̆gabo. Last of all, Vijaya Bāhu III appears in the Rājaratnākaraya under the name; he was a descendent of Siri San̆gabo. On palaeographic grounds, the present inscription could belong to any of these princes. However, there is no proof that Vijaya Bāhu III ever held Uḍa Dumbara, which is described in the inscription as being in Pihiṭi (the King’s Country). Meanwhile, Māgha was a Kāliṅga invader and oppressed the Sinhalese. Hence, by process of elimination, Codrington identifies Sāhasa Malla as the king being referred to here. Since Sāhasa Malla took the throne in 1200 A.D., the date of the inscription can be fixed as 1 October 1200. The text records a grant to an individual named Gulpiṭi or Gulhiṭi But Pām̆bul-lē-daruvan for loyalty to His Majesty even to the receiving of wounds in his service.

The sannasa (land grant) is engraved on both sides an oblong copper-plate. There are fifteen lines of text on the observe and a further fifteen lines on the reverse. Writing in the late 1920s, Codrington recorded that the plate “has for many years been in the possession of Mr W. P. Ranasinha, Notary Public”. The latter’s son – A.G. Ranasinha Esq., C.M.G., C.B.E. – lent it to an exhibition organised by the Historical Manuscripts Commission in 1952.

The sannasa records a grant of land to two Brahmans – one Potā Ojjhalun and his nephew Avuhaḷa Ojjhalun of the Śān̆ḍiḷya gotra. As the sannasa relates, these Brahmans served as chief purohita “until His Majesty our King Mahā Parākrama Bāhu…had worn the crown fifty-five times” (i.e. had reigned for fifty-five years). Kings of this period wore the state crown every year on the anniversary of their coronation, hence a king who wore the crown fifty-five times must have reigned for fifty-five years. In recognition of their service, the Brahmans received for their maintenance the village of Oruvaḷa in Aturugiri Kōralē. Subsequently another king made this village a perpetual dānakṣetra in favour of the nephew and also granted him another village in the neighbourhood. Avuhaḷa Ojjhalun, not content, applied either to the same king or to one of his successors for a copper-plate charter confirming that the land held by him was permanently declared a dānakṣetra subject to an annual payment of fifteen fanams to the god Vishṇu. In answer to this request, the present sannasa was issued by king Siri San̆gabo Śrī Parākrama Bāhu at Jayavarddhanapura Kōṭṭē in the fourth year of his reign.

Codrington identifies Mahā Parākrama Bāhu – the king served by the two Bhamans – as Parākrama Bāhu VI, who reigned from 1412 (or 1415, according to certain historical sources) until 1467 A.D. However, the identity of Siri San̆gabo Śrī Parākrama Bāhu – the king who issued the sannasa – is less certain. Kings Parākrama Bāhu VII, VIII and IX are all possibilities, although it is most likely to have been one of the first two. On palaeographic grounds, Codrington favours Parākrama Bāhu VIII. Oruvaḷa (Oruwala), the village mentioned in the grant, is situated near Aturugiriya, about three miles south-south-west of Nawagamuwa.