Tissamaharama Slab Inscription is a Sinhalese stone inscription found in Tissamaharama in Hambantota District, Sri Lanka. It is now preserved in the stone gallery of 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 from somewhere in Tissamaharama, the ancient capital of Rohana. It was kept in the Assistant Government Agent's quarters at Hambantota (Muller, 1883) and later brought to the Colombo Museum.
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 Scripts : Brahmi (Developed form of 4th century A.D.) Language : Early Sinhala
Transcript : Siddham Buddadasa Mahida maha
-sena Tavakab(o)ya Abhaya maharaja mi apa culi-purumaka Budadasa Taripala Mahanamika Jeta-Tisa maharaja.....>>
Translation : Success! I am the great king
Citation : Karunaratne, 1984Budadasa Mahida, Mahasena Tavakaboya Abhaya. Our younger purumaka the great king Budadasa Taripala, Mahanamika, Jetatisa......>> |  |
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.
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.
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