No. 40.— 1890.] 



KURUNEGALA rocks. 



419 



and about a foot square. On one side, probably the front, 

 are the figures of the sun and crescent moon, and of a man 

 holding a long pole, possibly a spear. Below these are eight 

 rows of an inscription in character known to the natives as 

 " gal-ndgara." On the side opposite to it are fourteen rows of 

 an inscription. On the left side are the figures of a crow and 

 a dog, similar to those on the stone at the temple, and some 

 inscriptions. 



It is said that this granite column was placed here to 

 mark the utmost limit of the temple endowments, and the 

 boundary between the villages Hanwella and Ganegoda, 

 For this reason, perhaps, those interested do not desire to 

 remove the column from where it lies, which, if done, would 

 certainly ensure its better preservation, for at present 

 its semi-burial in the earth and jungle, and exposure to 

 the sun and rain, render the inscription almost illegible. 

 Miiller ascribes these inscriptions to King Kassapa V* and 

 his successor.* 



About half a mile from the pansala, on a rock called 

 Pitadeni-gala, there is an inscription in Sinhalese, dated 

 Saka 1751 (= 1829 A.D.), which records the erection of a 

 poya-ge close to it. This rock once formed the limit between 

 Ganegoda and Minhetiya. On it is a dagaba in the course 

 of construction, and the relics deposited underneath it have, 

 it is said, cost the parties interested upwards of Rs. 500. 

 Owing to a dissension among the people who worshipped 

 at the Ganegoda temple, caused by the preaching of the 

 Ramafina sect by priests who paid a visit to the village some 

 time ago, the dissentients have refused to conform to the 

 teachings of the Siamese sect, of which the present incumbent 

 is a member, and have formed themselves into a separate 

 body. It is this body that has undertaken the construction 

 of the dagaba in question. 



* [Dr. Miiller merely speaks of them as " two fragments of pillars with 

 inscriptions partly effaced " (of the lOth-llth centuries).without assigning 

 them to any king {loo. ait,, p. 60). — B., Hon. Sec] 



