Ihala Puliyankulama Pillar Inscription of Parakramabahu I

Ihala Puliyankulama Pillar Inscription of Parakramabahu I

A stone pillar containing an inscription of King Parakramabahu I of the Polonnaruwa Kingdom (Sinhala: පළමුවන පරාක්‍රමබාහු රජුගේ ඉහල පුලියන්කුලම ටැම් ලිපිය) is presently on the display at the Stone Gallery of Colombo National Museum , Sri Lanka. Discovery The pillar was discovered in Ihala Puliyankulama village in Puttalam District (Codrington, 1926; Ranawella, 2005). It was later brought to the present location for conservation. Content The inscription has been engraved on two sides of the pillar (Codrington, 1926). The first side contains 25 lines of writing and at the top of it is a figure of a lamp (Ranawella, 2005). The second side has 24 lines of writing (Ranawella, 2005). The script and the language of the inscription are Sinhala of the 12th century A.D. (Ranawella, 2005). It is dated in the 9th regnal year of a king styled Sirisangabo Parakramabahu who, according to scholars, is King Parakramabahu I [(1153-1186 A.D.) Codrington, 1926; Ranawella, 2005]. The purpose of erecting this ins…