Published June 20, 2017 | Version v1

SIDDHAṂ IN03004 : Rock inscription of Kīrti Niśśanka Malla at Dambulla (version 1.1)

Authors/Creators

Description

The inscription of king Kīrti Niśśanka Malla is situated in the rock temple of Dam̆bulla, also called in the Mahāvaṁsa Jambukōla vihāra, on the rock to the right, immediately after passing the Muragē. It consists of 25 lines, written in the Sinhalese script of the 12th century A.D., recording the philanthropic and religious acts of the king. No date is given in the inscription. According to Wicremasinghe, the inscription was engraved between 1192 and 1197. The present inscription was previously published in 1836 in the Epitome of G. Turnour, and then in 1840 in Eleven years in Ceylon of J. Forbes, and in 1883 in E. Müller’s Ancient Inscriptions in Ceylon.

Notes

Wickremasinghe, Don Martino de Zilva. E.Z., vol.1, part 4, n°9, pp.121-135. Note on this author: On the author: Don Martino de Zilva Wickremasinghe (1865–1937) was an epigraphist and archeologist of Sri Lanka. He studied at Richmond College, Galle. Subsequently, he worked as an assistant to H. C. P. Bell as served as the epigraphist to the Ceylon Government. He became archaeological commissioner after Bell, preceding Senarath Paranavitana in that position. He served as editor and part author of the first two volumes of Epigraphia Zeylanica. He handed responsibility for volume 3 of Epigraphia Zeylanica to Paranavitana "...owing to reasons of health and the multifarious duties at the University of London." (see Senarath Paranavitana, "Preface," Epigraphia Zeylanica 3 (1928-1933) (London, 1933): p. iii). During his time in London, Wickremasinghe prepared a catalogue of the Sinhalese books in the library of the British Museum: see, Don Martino de Zilva Wickremasinghe, Catalogue of the Sinhalese printed books in the library of the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1901).

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Additional details

Funding

European Commission
ASIA - Beyond Boundaries: Religion, Region, Language and the State 609823