Devinuwara slab inscription of Vijayabahu VI

The Devinuwara slab inscription of King Vijayabahu VI is presently on the display at the Inscription Gallery of Colombo National Museum, Sri Lanka. 

The slab

The slab is 4 feet 6 inches tall and 2 feet 1 inch wide (Ranawella, 2005). It was discovered from somewhere in Devinuwara and later brought to the present location for conservation. 

The inscription has been engraved on both sides of the slab. The first side contains 23 lines of writing and the second side has 4 lines (Ranawella, 2005). The record ends abruptly at the fourth line of the second side (Ranawella, 2005). 

Content

The script and the language of the inscription are Sinhala of the 16th century A.D. (Ranawella, 2005). It is dated in the fifth regnal year of a king styled Sirisangabo Sri Vijayabahu Cakravartti who, according to scholars, is King Vijayabahu VI [(1509-1521 A.D.) Ranawella, 2005; Rohanadeera, 2007]. The purport of the record was to register the grant of some paddy fields to a Hindu shrine named Nagarisa Kovila in Devinuwara (Ranawella, 2005).

References

1)  Ranawella, S. (Ed.), 2005. Sinhala inscriptions in the Colombo National Museum: Spolia Zeylanica. Vol 42. (2005). Department of National Museums, Sri Lanka. pp.104-106.

2) Rohanadeera, M., 2007. Archaeological Survey of Ceylon: Inscriptions of Ceylon. Vol. VIII. Department of Archaeology. ISBN: 978-955-91-59-64-3. pp.98-101.

Location Map

This page was last updated on 31 January 2022
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