Grants to Kali in the Tamil Pillar Inscription at Kalutara

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Tamil Inscription in Kalutara
Photo Credit : Jinadasa Katupotha

This inscription is located within the premises of the Kalutara Magistrate Court Complex, between Galle Road and the Colombo–Galle Coastal Railway Line. Based on the style of the script and its historical context, the inscription is dated to the 15th century and belongs to the period of the Kotte Kingdom.

The inscription was first read by P. E. Pieris. He observed that the stone contains two distinct layers of writing. The visible Tamil text appears to have been inscribed over an earlier record. Traces of the earlier inscription remain visible beneath the later carving, and according to Pieris, these underlying characters are clearly Sinhala letters (Gamage, 2007).

According to historical documents, a temple known as Gangathilaka Viharaya once stood near the banks of the Kalu Ganga. This temple is mentioned in classical Sandesha poems such as the Thisara Sandeshaya and the Parevi Sandeshaya, as well as in Portuguese records. Pieris proposed that the original Sinhala inscription likely recorded land grants made to this Gangathilaka Viharaya. After the destruction or decline of the temple, the same grants may have been reassigned to a Kali Devale, and the stone was subsequently reinscribed in Tamil. This interpretation is supported by the fact that the worship of Kali was predominantly associated with Tamil communities rather than Brahmins (Gamage, 2007).

The inscription consists of eleven lines written in the Tamil language. Lines one to seven record that the king granted the income from paddy fields and other properties to the Kali Kovil. Lines eight to eleven indicate that a regional chief delivered these agricultural revenues—primarily in the form of grain—to the kovil on behalf of the king.

The inscription is read as

1 — Annurru
2 — mar kalikku
3 — racakkal ku-
4 — mpa kku –
5 — tutta totta –
6 — yam vayal
7 — ayam -ivai
8 — mutalikku
9 — Kontu kutu
10 — tta taniyam
11 — ayam ivai
(Veluppillai, 1971)

Although the name of the king is not mentioned, the inscription clearly records that the donation was made jointly by the king and regional chiefs. A. Veluppillai argued that the word Annurrumar could be interpreted as “the Five Hundred.” Similar references appear in the phrase Ticaiayirattu Annurruvar, meaning “the Five Hundred of the Thousand Directions.” This phrase has also been identified in three other Tamil inscriptions in Sri Lanka: near Vahalkada Reservoir, at Padaviya Reservoir, and at Viharahinna.

The “Five Hundred of the Thousand Directions” was the name of a powerful medieval mercantile corporation of South Indian origin. Even before the rise of the Chola Empire, this commercial guild operated widely throughout peninsular India. With the expansion of Chola maritime influence, the organization extended its trading networks across South and Southeast Asia. Veluppillai suggested that this merchant guild may also have been active in Kalutara and that the Kali temple mentioned in the inscription might have been constructed or patronized by members of this commercial organization.

References

ගමගේ , ගු., 2007. රයිගම්පුර රාජධානිය. 1st ed. දිවුලපිටිය: සරස්වතී ප්‍රකාශන.
Katupotha, J., 2011. Cultural and Historical Monuments and Protected Resources of Archaeological Significance in the Lower Kalu Ganga Basin, Sri Lanka. In: National Archaeological Symposium. Colombo: National Archaeological Symposium, pp.197-213.
Veluppillai, A., 1971. Ceylon Tamil Inscriptions – Part 1. 1st ed. Kandy: Royal Printers, pp. 44-52.

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References

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Map of the Kalutara Tamil Inscription Pillar

Travel Directions to Kalutara Tamil Inscription Pillar

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