Thanthirimale Raja Maha Viharaya Thanthirimale Raja Maha Viharaya (Sinhala: තන්තිරිමලේ) is a Buddhist temple situated in Anuradhapura District, Sri Lanka. It is significant both as a Pre-historic and historic site. History Pre-historic evidence The Tantirimale area is said to have been inhabited by hunters belonging to the period 10,000-7,000 B.C. of the Neolithic age (Wikramagamage, 2004). Some cave paintings either done by them or their descendants have been found at the site (Wikramagamage, 2004). The Buddhist monastery The Early Brahmi Inscriptions discovered on the caves of the Tantirimale rock reveal that there was an ancient Buddhist monastery established in pre-Christian times (Kulatunge, 2018). Three such inscriptions have been copied and published in 1970 by the renowned archaeologist S. Paranavithana (Paranavitana, 1970). Tantirimale cave inscription of Naga Period: 3rd - 1st century B.C. Script: Early Brahmi Language: Old Sinhala Transcript: Ati-ajariya-Batiya mata upashika Nagaya Translation: Of the fe…
