No. 63.— 1910.] AGE OF SRI PARAKRAMA B AHU VI. 
9 
and accomplishments of the king and the princess royal 
Ulakundali-devi/ at whose request the poem was undertaken. 
The glossaries, two of which were compiled during this 
reign, Piyummala, Ruvanmala, and the Ndmdvaliya, furnish 
information, though not so ample as might be wished for, of 
the character of the public and domestic architecture, of the 
articles and utensils in ordinary use, of games and pastimes, 
and of the grades of society. The amplest and most 
accurate of these is the poetical glossary of the Ruvanmala, 
composed by the king on the model of the Amarasinha. The 
Piyummala is an older collection of words on the basis of the 
Abhiddnappadipikd. The Ndmdvaliya is a poetical composi- 
tion by the chieftain Nallurutun , sannas minister, made in 
1411, earher than the Ruvamnala, and not so complete. 
A prose work, the Sinhalese Thupavansa, probably written 
by an author of this period, furnishes us with a detailed 
description of the ancient Sinhalese royal dress and ornaments, 
and the ordinary attire and furniture in use in the country, 
though treating of the history of an earlier time. However, 
as manners and customs change so very little in the East its 
date scarcely affects its value. In addition to the sources 
already indicated, a series of stone inscriptions and copper- 
plate grants (sannas) have preserved to us a wealth of personal 
and administrative detail of great historical importance. I 
have specified in an appendix^ all the lithic and copperplate 
records bearing on this reign, noting the references where they 
may be found. Three grants which have yet to be accurately 
copied, translated, and annotated, I have included in an 
appendix^ with a tentative translation. For the text I had to 
depend on transcripts more or less imperfect. There is yet 
another stone record, I am informed, inscribed during this 
reign, which is hewn on the rock at the Galapata Vihara in the 
Kalutara District. Unfortunately I have not been able to 
secure a copy of it. Perhaps the most interesting of the series 
is the Pepiliyana inscription, which contains rules regulating 
1 This form of the name, instead of Ulakuda Devi, oocm'S in the 
Kovul Saridesa. 
^ These I have deferred for a later chapter. 
