N«0. 40.-1890.] KURUNEGALA ROCKS. 423 



the "stone seat," as he calls it, " evidently was not always in 

 the temple, which is rather a modern construction, but must 

 have been exposed to the weather for a long time, as about 

 half of the inscription is almost completely effaced" ; even 

 at the time of his visit it was " not in a favourable position 

 for reading, as the temple gets its light only from the door, 

 and has no windows."* 



Tradition has it that Indra brought this structure to Batu- 

 vewa, or Sak Batuvewa,t an adjoining village, so called after 

 his descent thither, and placed it where it now stands. It is 

 also supposed that Maliya Deva spent his hours of medi- 

 tation here, repeating the formula which the inscription on 

 the tablet is thought to contain. 



Muller was " not quite sure that this inscription belonged 

 to Nissanka Malla," as that part of it which should contain 

 the name is effaced, but the words which immediately follow 

 induced him to ascribe it to him, as they are identical 

 with those at the beginning of the inscription of Dambulla.J 



The villagers say that the stone altar lay hidden in the 

 jungle for many years, and that a Duraya of the village 

 Talawita came upon it by chance whilst out hunting. He 

 broke off a portion of the moulding from the base, intending 

 to use it as the upper-stone, or dd-gala, for grinding curry 

 stuffs, &c, on. No sooner had he taken it into his hand than 

 he lost his way in the jungle, and it was with the greatest 

 difficulty that he returned home. On reaching his house 

 he was attacked by a swarm of hornets (debaru) and 

 stung to death. Those who went to his rescue met with a 

 similar fate, and the attack on the villagers continued 



* "Ancient Inscriptions in Ceylon," 1883, p. 64. 



f Sakraya-behapu-vewa, the tank into which Sakraya is said to have 

 descended : modern Batalagodawewa, the headquarters of the Deduru-oya 

 scheme, which is being worked under the able supervision of Mr. H. 

 Parker. This is an ancient tank, and Muller refers to " stone pillars and 

 a fragment of a stone bearing an inscription in the character of the 

 fifteenth century" (Joe. tit., p. 71). 



% Lcc. cit., p. 65. 



