Avungalla Slab Inscription

Avungalla Slab Inscription is a Sinhala stone inscription discovered from Kegalle District, Sri Lanka. It is now preserved in the Inscription Gallery of Colombo National Museum.

Discovery of three inscriptions

Three inscriptions identical in content were discovered in Avungalla village in Mavata Pattuwa of the Paranakuru Korale, Kegalle District (Bell, 1904; Ranawella, 2005). However, the size of the letters, their number in each line, and the position of the carved sun and moon are different in each of the inscriptions (Bell, 1904).

Inscription No. 1: This is the inscription now preserved in the Colombo Museum. It has been inscribed on one side of a stone slab of about 2 feet 2 inches tall and 2 feet 5.5 inches wide (Bell, 1904). It was found at the foot of a Bulu-tree in a chena located half a mile from the Kavudugama Raja Maha Viharaya (Bell, 1904). The figures of the sun and moon are at the right of the text.

Inscription No. 2: This record was found on a rock two feet under the mud of a paddy field (Bell, 1904). It covers an area of about 2 feet by 1 foot 6 inches (Bell, 1904). The figures of the sun and moon are engraved above the text.

Inscription No. 3: This record has been cut on a low flat hump of rock at the boundary limit between Avungalla and Divela (Bell, 1904). The figures of the sun and moon are at the beneath of the text.

Fourth inscription? According to Bell, it is probable that a fourth stone, similarly inscribed, existed somewhere in the neighbourhood to denote the fourth boundary of the land that, as revealed by the inscriptions, gifted to the Pirivena (Bell, 1904).

Content

The inscription has been dated by scholars to the 12th century A.D. (Ranawella, 2005). It records an endowment of land to a monastery named Mahendra Lanka Adhikara Pirivena (Ranawella, 2005). According to the opinion of Bell, this Pirivena at Avungalla could be one of the monasteries established by Mihindu, a minister of King Parakramabahu I [(1153-1186 A.D.) Bell, 1904].  However, there is no mention of the name of the donor.

• Avungalla Slab Inscription
  
  Period : 12th century AD
  Script  : Medieval Sinhala
  Language : Medieval Sinhala

Transcript : Ahunugalla Mahendra Lamka Adhikara Pirivena kusalana yi
Translation : This is the land endowed to Mahendra Lanka Adhikari Pirivena in Ahunugalla.
Reference : Ranawella, 2005

1) Bell, H.C.P., 1904. Report on the Kegalle District of the Province of Sabaragamuwa. Archaeological Survey of Ceylon: XIX-1892. Government Press, Sri Lanka. p.76.

2) Ranawella, S. (Ed.), 2005. Sinhala inscriptions in the Colombo National Museum: Spolia Zeylanica. Vol. 42. (2005). Department of National Museums, Sri Lanka. p.92.

This page was last updated on 31 January 2022
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