The Murunkan Slab Inscription of King Mahallaka Naga (Sinhala: මන්නාරම මුරුංගන් රෝහල් භූමියේ මහල්ලක නාග රජුගේ පුවරු ලිපිය) is presently on the premises of the Divisional Hospital at Murunkan in Mannar District, Sri Lanka.
The Slab and Other Ruins
This inscribed slab was discovered on the premises of the Divisional Hospital at Murunkan by an archaeological officer when it had been used as a seat for the patients who come to the hospital. The slab is 1.6 m in length and 0.6 m in width and is a broken part of the original slab (Asanga & Nishantha, 2018). The preserved portion contains incomplete 5 lines of the initial inscription (Asanga & Nishantha, 2018). The inscription was copied by the Department of Archaeology on 27 June 2011 and documented under register no. 3951 (Dayananda, 2022).
The slab is said to have been brought to the present site from the place where the doctors' and nurses' quarters have been built (Asanga & Nishantha, 2018). In the vicinity of this site are several ruins of ancient structures and monuments such as Stupa mounds, Siri Pathul Gal, base stones, brick pieces and red and black potsherds (Asanga & Nishantha, 2018; Dayananda, 2022).
Content
The language and the script of the inscription are Later Brahmi and Old Sinhala of the 2nd century A.D. (Dayananda, 2022). It records donations made to two Buddhist temples (Kalabakili Viharaya and Bakini Viharaya) by a king-styled Nakamaharaja (Dayananda, 2022). Scholars have identified this king as Mahallaka Naga [(136-143 A.D.) Dayananda, 2022].
A Protected Monument
The stone inscription located in the territory of the Murungan Hospital and the site of archaeological ruins located in its vicinity in the Grama Niladhari Division of Murungan in the Nanattan Divisional Secretary’s Division are archaeological protected monuments, declared by a government Gazette notification published on 20 June 2014.
References
1) Asanga, M. V. G. K.; Nishantha, I. P. S., 2018. Mannarama Distrikkaya (In Sinhala). Department of Archaeology (Sri Lanka). ISBN: 978-955-7457-10-9. pp.42-46.
2) Dayananda, T, A., 2022. අභිලේඛන සංග්රහය-3 (Abhilekhana Sangrahaya-3). Department of Archaeology. ISBN: 978-624-5840-16-8. pp.39-42.
3) The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. No: 1868. 20 June 2014. p.502.
