Mawaragala Aranya Senasanaya is an ancient Buddhist cave temple in Dambana,, featuring early Brahmi inscriptions and protected monuments.
Mawaragala Aranya Senasanaya (Dambana) M awaragala Aranya Senasanaya (Sinhala: මාවරගල ආරණ්ය සේනාසනය) is a Buddhist cave temple established around the forest-covered Mawaragala mountain [385 m (1263.12 ft. amsl)] situated in the village of Dambana in Badulla District, Sri Lanka. The site is located about 15 km from Mahiyanganaya town. History The history of this temple runs back to the pre-Christian era. The temple consists of a number of rock caves prepared as dwellings for Buddhist monks and some of them are drip-ledged and contain Early Brahmi Inscriptions inscribed just below the drip ledges (Priyadarshani & Gunasena, 2017). Six such early Brahmi inscriptions recorded by the eminent archaeologist, Senarath Paranavitana are in the book " Inscriptions of Ceylon: Volume I " (Paranavitana, 1970). Mavaragala Cave Inscription of Tissa (I) and Anuradhi (II) Period: 2nd century B.C. - 1st century A.D. Script: Early Brahmi Language: Old Sinhala Transcript I: Parumaka Tabatisha puta Parumaka Tisaha lene shagasha Translation I: …
