Tissamaharama Slab Inscription (Sinhala: තිස්සමහාරාම පුවරු ලිපිය, කොළඹ කෞතුකාගාරය) is a Sinhalese stone inscription discovered in Tissamaharama in Hambantota District, Sri Lanka. It is now preserved in the stone gallery of the Colombo National Museum. The inscription records a grant made to a Buddhist monastery by King Sirimeghavanna [(303-331 A.D.) Ranawella, 2005] or by King Mahanama [(412-434 A.D.) Paranavitana, 1933].
The stone inscription was found at some spot in Tissamaharama, the ancient capital of Rohana. It was kept in the Assistant Government Agent's quarters at Hambantota and later brought to the Colombo Museum for conservation (Muller, 1883).
Content
The inscription has been inscribed on one side of the slab which is 4 ft. tall and 1 ft. 5 inches wide. Depending on the scripts and language used, the inscription has been dated by scholars to the 3rd - 4th centuries A.D. (Ranawella, 2005). It reveals a grant of several lands for the maintenance of monks of the meditation hall attached to the royal monastery of Mahagama (Tissamaharama) at Abagiri with the provision of four monastic requisites.
Tissamaharama Slab Inscription
References
1) Muller, E., 1883. Ancient Inscriptions in Ceylon. London. p.43.
2) Karunaratne, S. (Ed.), 1984, Epigraphia Zeylanica: Being Lithic and other Inscriptions of Ceylon Vol. VII Special Volume. Colombo: Department of Archaeology. pp.111-113.
3) Paranavitana, S., 1933. Ruvanvalisaya pillar-inscription of the reign of Buddhadasa. [Wikramasinghe, D.M.D.Z.; Codrington, H.W., (Editors)]. Epigraphia Zeylanica: Being Lithic and
other Inscriptions of Ceylon Vol. III (1928-1933). Colombo:
Department of Archaeology. p.124.
4) Ranawella, S. (Ed.), 2005. Sinhala inscriptions in the Colombo National
Museum: Spolia Zeylanica. Vol 42. (2005). Department of National
Museums, Sri Lanka. pp.6-8.
