Akurugoda Pillar Inscription (Tam Lipiya) Archaeological Site in Tissamaharamaya (තිස්සමහාරාම අකුරුගොඩ ටැම් ලිපිය පුරාවිද්‍යා භූමිය)

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Traveling towards the Tissa town over the picturesque Tissa reservoir, just as you pass the bund, you will see a archaeological board with the name “Akurugoda Pillar Inscription”. Taking the road to the right in front of the board and traveling 150 meters until the the road folks in to 2, you will find this lone monolithic pillar lying in under a large tree on a plot of land protected by a barbed wire fence.  A rotating gate has been installed to stop cows and other animals entering the land.

The pillar is about 30 feet in height and octagonal in shape. which bears it has been dated to the first century BCE. Another stone slab with an inscription, which is older than the inscription indicted on the octagonal pillar, has also been unearthed from the site. This inscription was dated to the first century BCE according to the paleography of its script.

The slab inscription mentioned above describes a pond constructed by the revenue officer of a great King, who is not mentioned by name in the inscription. The inscription indicted on the octagonal pillar at the Akurugoda mound is a copy of the inscription carved on a rock situated at the Kirinda Rajamaha viharaya.

The inscription at Kirinda mentions a person called Naga. He bore the title uparaja – the viceroy – in that inscription and shows an affinity to the contemporary administrative power of the lower Kirinda Basin of his time. The full text of this inscription was deciphered by Nicholas for the first time in 1956. According to the paleography, he ascribed this inscription to the first century CE. It records that at the Vihara at this spot the Yuvaraja Naka abandoned false beliefs and was converted to Buddhism.

References

  1. Somadeva, R., 2006. URBAN ORIGINS IN SOUTHERN SRI LANKA. Doctoral Thesis in Archaeology. Uppsala University.
  2. C. W. Nicholas, 1963. Historical Topography of Ancient and Medival Ceylon. Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, New Series Volume VI Special Number, pp.62-63.

Also See

Map of Akurugoda Pillar Inscription Archaeological Ruins

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Travel Directions to Akurugoda Pillar Inscription Archaeological Ruins

Route from Tissamaharama to Akurugoda Pillar Inscription Archaeological Ruins
Through : Ruburwatta Road
Distance : 1.6 km
Travel time : 5 mins
Time to spent : 15 mins
Driving directions : see on google map

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