Vallipuram Gold Plate | Sri Lanka's Oldest Gold Inscription

Vallipuram Gold Plate | Sri Lanka's Oldest Gold Inscription

V allipuram Gold Plate , also called Vallipurama Ran Sannasa , (Sinhala: වල්ලිපුරම් රන්පත) is a small sheet of gold, containing an inscription written in the Old Sinhalese language (Dias et al., 2016; Paranavitana, 1983). It was discovered in a Hindu temple located in Vallipuram, Wadamarachchi Division, Jaffna District (Medhananda, 2003; Paranavitana, 1983). As it is the oldest gold plate inscription found in the country, this artefact is considered very important to a person who researches the history of Sri Lanka as well as the Sinhala language in the 1st century A.D. Besides the gold plate, other ruins such as some funerary urns, bricks, pottery, coins and a Buddha image of stone in the Amaravati style were discovered at the site (Veluppillai, 1981). The Gold Sheet The gold sheet was found in 1936, together with some other objects beneath the foundation of an ancient structure on land adjacent to the Vallipuram Vishnu temple (Dias et al., 2016; Medhananda, 2003; Paranavitana, 1983). The …