342 



JOUBNAL, K.A.S. (CEYLON). [Vol. VIII. 



well-known fact that the foundation of several houses in 

 the vicinity have been built from the materials dug out of 

 this site. 



Of the existence at Bentota of a temple called the Kali 

 Kovila, the evidence on record, though not plentiful, is, to my 

 mind, very conclusive. 



In the 86th chapter of the Mahdwansa it is stated that 

 Parakrama Bahu II., or, as he is also styled, Kali Kala Sahitya 

 Sarwajna Pandita, summoned his Prime Minister Devva 

 Pratiraja, and having represented that the building com- 

 menced at the Attanagalla Vihara by his predecessor 

 Upatissa was in ruins, and that the orchard planted by King 

 Nissanka at the Bentota Vihara was neglected, asked him to 

 undertake the restoration of these works in the king's name. 

 In obedience to this request the Prime Minister proceeds to 

 the Attanagalla Vihara, erects a three-storied building there, 

 and makes a record of the fact in an inscription on a rock in 

 the temple. He next proceeds to Bentota (Bhtmatittha in 

 the original), and builds a bridge, eighty-six cubits long, 

 over the Kali river. He next visits Kesels6nawa, and 

 builds a bridge there one hundred wall-plates* long, then a 

 bridge forty wall-plates long over the Salgama-ganga, and 

 another bridge one hundred and fifty cubits long in the 

 Salpiti Korale. The Prime Minister returns again to 

 Bentota, and plants a cocoanut garden one yoduna long from 

 the Bentota Vihara to the Kalu-ganga. This took place in 

 the Buddhist year 1781 (1239-1240 a.d.). 



From the above it will be seen that so far back as the , 

 middle of the thirteenth century, although the village itself 

 went by the name of Bentota, the river on which it stands, 

 or at least a part of it, was called the Kali river {Kalmadi 

 in the Pali) ; that is, it took its name from the temple 

 dedicated to that goddess which stood on its banks ; for in 

 no other way can we explain the origin of this particular 

 name for this river. 



Again, the poet Sri Rahula Sthaviro of Totagamuwa, 

 about a century and a half later, makes direct reference to 



* One wall-plate is equal to seven cubits in length. 



