OB03060 Poḷonnaruva Häṭa-dā-gē Inside Wall (fragments)

Author: Don Martino de Zilva Wickremasinghe

The Inner Shrine at the Hatadage, Polonnaruwa.

Community: Sri Lanka epigraphy
Uploaded on November 6, 2017
December 16, 2019
IN03080 Poḷonnaruva Häṭa-dā-gē Inside Wall Inscription

Author: Don Martino de Zilva Wickremasinghe

The inscription is engraved on a series of slabs originally built into an inside wall of the so-called Häṭa-dā-gē, ‘the Shrine of Sixty Relics’, at Poḷonnaruva. It was discovered by S. M. Burrows in 1885, along with another inscription in the vestibule of the shrine (IN03079) and one in the adjoining portico (IN03078). Consisting of eight lines, the inscription dates from the reign of Kīrti-Niśśaṅka-Malla (1187-1196 A.D.) and provides a tactfully worded exhortation to Buddhist monks to exercise care in the selection of persons for admission to the priesthood and to desist from doing things contrary to the teaching of the Buddha.

Community: Sri Lanka epigraphy
Uploaded on November 6, 2017
December 16, 2019
OB03059 Poḷonnaruva Häṭa-dā-gē Vestibule Wall

Author: Don Martino de Zilva Wickremasinghe

The Hatadage, Polonnaruwa. The vestibule wall inscription can be seen on the right in this photograph.

Detail of the vestibule wall-inscription at the Hatadage, Polonnaruwa.

Community: Sri Lanka epigraphy
Uploaded on November 6, 2017
December 16, 2019
IN03079 Poḷonnaruva Häṭa-dā-gē Vestibule Wall Inscription

Author: Don Martino de Zilva Wickremasinghe

The inscription is engraved on the front wall of the vestibule or pro-naos of the so-called Häṭa-dā-gē, ‘the Shrine of Sixty Relics’, at Poḷonnaruva. It was discovered by S. M. Burrows in 1885, along with another inscription inside the shrine (IN03080) and one in the adjoining portico (IN03078). The inscription dates from the reign of Kīrti-Niśśaṅka-Malla (1187-1196 A.D.), whom it refers to as Siṁhapureśvara Laṁk󠅛eśvara Kāliṅga-Cakravartī. The text consists of 17 lines engraved within a double border featuring a band of haṁsas (swans) and another of foliate ornament. It describes some of Niśśaṅka-Malla’s administrative and charitable acts.

Community: Sri Lanka epigraphy
Uploaded on November 6, 2017
December 16, 2019
OB03058 Poḷonnaruva Häṭa-dā-gē Portico Slabs

Author: Don Martino de Zilva Wickremasinghe

Entrance to the Hatadage, Polonnaruwa. The slab inscription can be seen on the right in this photograph.

Community: Sri Lanka epigraphy
Uploaded on November 6, 2017
December 16, 2019
IN03078 Poḷonnaruva Häṭa-dā-gē Portico Slab Inscription

Author: Don Martino de Zilva Wickremasinghe

The inscription is engraved on the portico of the so-called Häṭa-dā-gē, ‘the Shrine of Sixty Relics’, at Poḷonnaruva. It was discovered by S. M. Burrows in 1885; Burrows also discovered two further inscription in the shrine itself (IN03079 and IN03080). The inscription dates from the reign of Kīrti-Niśśaṅka-Malla (1187-1196 A.D.) and consists of 23 lines, starting with a Sanskrit stanza in triṣṭup śālinī metre and ending in a Sinhalese quatrain. Both of these stanzas contain Niśśaṅka-Malla’s appeal to future kings to protect and preserve the Dharma. The rest of the inscription describes some of Niśśaṅka-Malla’s administrative and charitable acts, including the building in stone of the Vaṭa-geya (‘Rotunda’), the (Niśśaṅka-latā-maṇḍapaya ‘Niśśaṅka flower-trail hall’), and the Niśśaṅka-daḷadā-geya (‘Niśśaṅka tooth-relic house’) at Poḷonnaruva.

Community: Sri Lanka epigraphy
Uploaded on November 6, 2017
December 16, 2019