Ekadvāra

The inscription is engraved on the surface of a low, flat rock amidst the ruins of an ancient monastery at Vihāregala. This site lies at the southern end of the Puliyankuḷam range of hills, about two and half miles to the north-west of Galenbin̆dunuväva in the Uḍḍiyankuḷam Kōraḷē of the North-Central Province, and to the east of the village named Mahakälǟgama (Maha Kelegama, 8.28531, 80.680939). The inscription records that king Gajabāhu Gāmaṇī Abhaya re-granted the Uppaladoṇika tank, originally given by King Saba, to the Ekadvāra Monastery. The king in question is Gajabahu I, who reigned from 113 to 135 A.D. An earlier inscription (IN03122) is inscribed on the same rock as the present record, recording king Saba’s original grant. The two inscriptions were first recorded in the Annual Report of the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon for 1893 (p. 7). The Uppadoṇika tank to which they refer is apparently the one now known as the Pahala Kayinattama Wewa, which lies only two miles north of the ruined monastery. An inscription on the bund of the Pahala Kayinattama Wewa (IN03121) confirms that it was given by king Saba to the Ekadvāra monastery.

The inscription is engraved within an outline framing on the dressed surface of a low, flat rock amidst the ruins of an ancient monastery at Vihāregala. This site lies at the southern end of the Puliyankuḷam range of hills, about two and half miles to the north-west of Galenbin̆dunuväva in the Uḍḍiyankuḷam Kōraḷē of the North-Central Province, and to the east of the village named Mahakälǟgama (Maha Kelegama, 8.28531, 80.680939). The inscription records that king Saba granted a tank named Uppaladoṇika to the monks to the Ekadvāra monastery. The king in question is Subha, who reigned between 60 and 66 A.D. A later inscription (IN03123) is inscribed on the same rock as the present record, in which king Gaja Bahu I (113–135 A.D.) re-grants the tank to the monastery. The two inscriptions were first recorded in the Annual Report of the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon for 1893 (p. 7). The Uppadoṇika tank to which they refer is apparently the one now known as the Pahala Kayinattama Wewa, which lies only two miles north of the ruined monastery. An inscription on the bund of the Pahala Kayinattama Wewa (IN03121) confirms that it was given by king Saba to the Ekadvāra monastery.

The inscription is engraved on a rock on the embankment of the Pahala Kayināṭṭamaväva (Pahala Kayinattama Wewa) in the Uḍḍiyankuḷam Kōraḷē of the North-Central Province. The text registers a grant to the Ekadoraya monastery by king Saba. It does not explicitly state what is being granted but, since the inscription is located on the embankment of a tank, it is obvious that the tank itself is the object of the grant. From the contents of two related rock-inscriptions found two miles to the south of the present record (IN03122 and IN03123), Senerath Paranavitana was able to identify king Saba mentioned here as Subha, who reigned between 60 and 66 A.D.