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The hill-range of Riṭigala is located about twenty-five miles south-east of Anurādhapura and eighteen miles north-east of Dam̆bulla. The range has numerous caves, rocks, ruins and inscriptions. Wickremasinghe describes four groups of inscriptions at different locations in the mountain range:

[1] Āṇḍiyā-kanda (east spur) – 10 cave-inscriptions.

[2] Karam̆bǟ-hīnna (north-west spur) – 2 cave-inscriptions (of which only one is described by Wickremasinghe).

[3] Nā-ulpata, also called Nā-arambädda-hīnna (west and south-west spur) – 1 cave-inscription; 4 rock-inscriptions (of which only three are described by Wickremasinghe).

[4] Vēväl-tänna (lower eastern spur) – 1 cave-inscription; 1 rock-inscription.

The hill-range of Riṭigala is located about twenty-five miles south-east of Anurādhapura and eighteen miles north-east of Dam̆bulla. The range has numerous caves, rocks, ruins and inscriptions. Wickremasinghe describes four groups of inscriptions at different locations in the mountain range:

[1] Āṇḍiyā-kanda (east spur) – 10 cave-inscriptions.

[2] Karam̆bǟ-hīnna (north-west spur) – 2 cave-inscriptions (of which only one is described by Wickremasinghe).

[3] Nā-ulpata, also called Nā-arambädda-hīnna (west and south-west spur) – 1 cave-inscription; 4 rock-inscriptions (of which only three are described by Wickremasinghe).

[4] Vēväl-tänna (lower eastern spur) – 1 cave-inscription; 1 rock-inscription.

The hill-range of Riṭigala is located about twenty-five miles south-east of Anurādhapura and eighteen miles north-east of Dam̆bulla. The range has numerous caves, rocks, ruins and inscriptions. Wickremasinghe describes four groups of inscriptions at different locations in the mountain range:

[1] Āṇḍiyā-kanda (east spur) – 10 cave-inscriptions.

[2] Karam̆bǟ-hīnna (north-west spur) – 2 cave-inscriptions (of which only one is described by Wickremasinghe).

[3] Nā-ulpata, also called Nā-arambädda-hīnna (west and south-west spur) – 1 cave-inscription; 4 rock-inscriptions (of which only three are described by Wickremasinghe).

[4] Vēväl-tänna (lower eastern spur) – 1 cave-inscription; 1 rock-inscription.

The hill-range of Riṭigala is located about twenty-five miles south-east of Anurādhapura and eighteen miles north-east of Dam̆bulla. The range has numerous caves, rocks, ruins and inscriptions. Wickremasinghe describes four groups of inscriptions at different locations in the mountain range:

[1] Āṇḍiyā-kanda (east spur) – 10 cave-inscriptions.

[2] Karam̆bǟ-hīnna (north-west spur) – 2 cave-inscriptions (of which only one is described by Wickremasinghe).

[3] Nā-ulpata, also called Nā-arambädda-hīnna (west and south-west spur) – 1 cave-inscription; 4 rock-inscriptions (of which only three are described by Wickremasinghe).

[4] Vēväl-tänna (lower eastern spur) – 1 cave-inscription; 1 rock-inscription.

The hill-range of Riṭigala is located about twenty-five miles south-east of Anurādhapura and eighteen miles north-east of Dam̆bulla. The range has numerous caves, rocks, ruins and inscriptions. Wickremasinghe describes four groups of inscriptions at different locations in the mountain range:

[1] Āṇḍiyā-kanda (east spur) – 10 cave-inscriptions.

[2] Karam̆bǟ-hīnna (north-west spur) – 2 cave-inscriptions (of which only one is described by Wickremasinghe).

[3] Nā-ulpata, also called Nā-arambädda-hīnna (west and south-west spur) – 1 cave-inscription; 4 rock-inscriptions (of which only three are described by Wickremasinghe).

[4] Vēväl-tänna (lower eastern spur) – 1 cave-inscription; 1 rock-inscription.

The hill-range of Riṭigala is located about twenty-five miles south-east of Anurādhapura and eighteen miles north-east of Dam̆bulla. The range has numerous caves, rocks, ruins and inscriptions. Wickremasinghe describes four groups of inscriptions at different locations in the mountain range:

[1] Āṇḍiyā-kanda (east spur) – 10 cave-inscriptions.

[2] Karam̆bǟ-hīnna (north-west spur) – 2 cave-inscriptions (of which only one is described by Wickremasinghe).

[3] Nā-ulpata, also called Nā-arambädda-hīnna (west and south-west spur) – 1 cave-inscription; 4 rock-inscriptions (of which only three are described by Wickremasinghe).

[4] Vēväl-tänna (lower eastern spur) – 1 cave-inscription; 1 rock-inscription.

Riṭigala Mountain Range

The hill-range of Riṭigala is located about twenty-five miles south-east of Anurādhapura and eighteen miles north-east of Dam̆bulla. This commanding position, as well as the shelter which the mountain’s numerous rocks and caves afford, may account for its importance in ancient times, both as a stronghold of contending clans and as a place of refuge for fugitive princes and religious devotees. The name of the mountain range may be derived from the site’s trees (Sinh. ‘riti’), from the Pali name ‘Arittha’ (‘safety’, in reference to the range’s function as a place of shelter) or even from Maha Arittha, the chief minister of King Devanampiya Tissa (reg. c. 250-210 B.C.). The range has numerous caves, rocks, ruins and inscriptions. Two of the inscriptions name the area as ‘ariṭa-gama’, confirming the identification of the site as Ariṭṭa-pabbata (or -sēla), a mountain range mentioned in the Sri Lankan chronicle, the ‘Mahāvaṁsa’. The range has also been associated with Mt Aristha of the Indian epic the ‘Rāmayana’.

The hill-range of Riṭigala is located about twenty-five miles south-east of Anurādhapura and eighteen miles north-east of Dam̆bulla. The range has numerous caves, rocks, ruins and inscriptions. Wickremasinghe describes four groups of inscriptions at different locations in the mountain range:

[1] Āṇḍiyā-kanda (east spur) – 10 cave-inscriptions.

[2] Karam̆bǟ-hīnna (north-west spur) – 2 cave-inscriptions (of which only one is described by Wickremasinghe).

[3] Nā-ulpata, also called Nā-arambädda-hīnna (west and south-west spur) – 1 cave-inscription; 4 rock-inscriptions (of which only three are described by Wickremasinghe).

[4] Vēväl-tänna (lower eastern spur) – 1 cave-inscription; 1 rock-inscription.

Dambulla Cave Temple, Sri Lanka

The inscription of king Kīrti Niśśanka Malla is situated in the rock temple of Dam̆bulla, also called in the Mahāvaṁsa Jambukōla vihāra, on the rock to the right, immediately after passing the Muragē. It consists of 25 lines, written in the Sinhalese script of the 12th century A.D., recording the philanthropic and religious acts of the king. No date is given in the inscription. According to Wicremasinghe, the inscription was engraved between 1192 and 1197. The present inscription was previously published in 1836 in the ‘Epitome’ of G. Turnour, and then in 1840 in ‘Eleven years in Ceylon’ of J. Forbes, and in 1883 in E. Müller’s ‘Ancient Inscriptions in Ceylon’.