NO. 45.— 1894.] ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE WANNl. 



177 



the Assembly of the four quarters, present and absent. Constructed 

 to the west of the Pacina Wihara." 



Another inscription at a lower cave is : — 



Gapati tap as a Sum an a Kulasa lene sagasa dine 

 agata ana g at a catu di s a sagasa P asu wisar ay e. 



" The cave of the family of the ascetic Sumana, the householder, is 

 given to the Community, to the Community of the four quarters, 

 present and absent, at the Pacina tank." 



There is thus no doubt regarding the name of the place. According 

 to the Mahdwansa, the Pacina Wihara was constructed by King 

 Dewanampiya Tissa ; its ruins have not been identified. The two 

 kings, Naga and Uttiya, are of course the two brothers of that mon- 

 arch, the former one being the Maha-naga, who reigned at Magama in 

 the Southern Province. The first inscription undoubtedly dates from 

 the second half of the third century B.C. 



Another inscription, for which subsequent searches were fruitless, 

 was discovered at the same place by Mr. S. Haughton, c.c.s., a few 

 years ago. Unfortunately the copy is too imperfect for a full transla- 

 tion to be made, but it contains special reference to the Ugahapati 

 pat am a Sumana, "The teacher, the supreme Sumana," who is 

 most probably the celebrated Sumana who accompanied Mahinda to 

 Ceylon. 



Another inscription runs : — P a rum a ha U ti put a Cud an a- 

 gasa lene, " The cave of Cudanaga, son of the Parumaka Uttiya." 

 This appears not unlikely to belong to a son of King Uttiya, but he is 

 not mentioned in the Mahdwansa. 



Another, copied by Mr. G-. M. Fowler at Erupotana, is : — Paru- 

 maha Ma. ..w a put a Abayasa lene sagayaniya 

 " The cave of Abhaya, son of the Parumaka Ma (hasi) wa, established 

 for the Community." If the restoration of the two letters in the un- 

 fortunate blank space may be trusted, this may possibly belong to the 

 eldest son of King Mutasiwa, but there is no proof that such is the case. 



I give one more inscription from the same place as the three first 

 ones. It is found along the side of a flight of rock-cut steps up a steep 

 ascent at the end of the largest hill, and it is the earliest instance of 

 what is known in Ceylon as " Perelibasa."® It is impossible to exhibit 

 the freaks of the carver in a bare transliteration. Some of the letters 

 are reversed vertically, some laterally ; while two syllables have the 

 consonants transposed, and a few letters are correctly cut. Its trans- 

 literation has been unusually difficult, because many of the early 



* Irregularly cut inscriptions have been also noticed in the North- 

 Central Province and the K£galla District of the Province of Sabara- 

 gamuwa. — B., Hon. Sec. 



