Cave No: III
This cave facing the east of the rock is 20 ft long, 20 ft wide has a height of 10 ft.
There is no trace of a Kataram or Scriptures. This cave occupies a Devalaya devoted to God
Kataragama.
Cave No: IV
This rock cave faces the west. The exposure of this rock to the fury of monsoonal and intermonsoonal rains causing damage to the rock could be seen by the cleavage of the rock to some degree. This may possibly due to the long length of the cave which is 78 ft and 34 ft wide with a height of 18 ft. Brahamin Scriptures have been engraved beneath the small Repledges (Katarama). Inside this cave is the Load Buddha's Image House ("Budhu Madura" in Sinhalese). This cave has been transformed into two caves by building a wall separating it into two caves form where the rock has been cleft. Inside the image house is a reclining Buddha Statue. Just below the Repledge (Katarama) of the rock picture of a Dhagaba has been engraved.
Cave No: V
Towards the eastern side of the rock facing Southeast lies this cave. It is 62 ft in length, 18ft wide, and 30 ft in height. Small Repledges (Katarama) are clearly visible. An image house has been erected but there are no visible scripts.
Cave No: VI
This cave faces the South and is situated towards the eastern side of the rock.
It is 58 ft in length, 19 ft wide and 20 ft in high. A small enclosure has been put up for meditation. No inscriptions are visible.
Cave No: VII
This cave too is situated towards the eastern side of the rock facing southeast. It is 14 ft long 14 ft wide while the height is 17 ft. No inscriptions have been found.
Cave No: VIII
This cave too is situated towards the eastern side of the rock. It is 24 ft long and 13 ft wide. The height is 12 ft. No inscriptions have been found, although two Repledges (Katarama) have been cut. A small enclosure for meditation has been constructed
Cave No: IX
This cave is situated towards the Southeastern side of the rock. No inscriptions are visible. It is 31 ft long, 20 ft wide, and 9 ft in height.
Cave No: X
This again is facing the Northeast and is situated on the Western side of the rock. Its 9 ft in height. There is no trace of any inscriptions or (Katarama) Repledges
Cave No: XI
The tombstone of the warrior Pussa Deva can be seen at the bottom of the rock. This cave is situated facing the Western side of the tomb. It is 45 ft long, 19 ft wide and 20 ft in height. Although there are small Repledges (Katarama) along the rock but no inscriptions are visible.
Cave No: XII
This cave is situated behind the present monastery beneath the rock. While it is 25 ft long, 12 ft wide and 13 ft in height it has drains carved but no visible signs of inscriptions.
Cave No: XIII
This cave faces Northeast and is also situated behind the present monastery. Here too no inscriptions are found.
Cave No: XVI
No inscriptions nor Repledges (Katarama) are found. The length is 25 ft, width 19 ft, and height 8 ft.
Brahamin Cave
Close to the tombstone of Pussa Deva is a huge cavity through a rock. This cavity is 12 ft long, 7 ft 8 inches wide and 10 ft in height. There is evidence to prove that this has been an abode of the primitive men. People of the area call it 'Thapas Guhawa' meaning 'where Bhramins lives'.
Tombstone of Pussa Deva
Travelling about three quarter mile from Sri Sankhapala Rajamaha Viharaya towards Pallebedda one would come across on that rock where ruins are present. The people of the village believe that this is the place where Pussa Deva has been cremated.
Here lie the ruins of a small Dagoba. It has been constructed on a square platform of which one side measures 34 ft. It is a round Stupa with a circumference of 60 ft. Although there are no other ruins to be seen here the archaeological value of this place cannot be undermined
'Sel Lipi'
Three documents written in Brahamin inscription belonging to a century Before Christ have been found while exploring the vicinity of the caves around Sri Sankhapala Raja Maha Viharaya. These have been published by the Archaeological department before.
Following is the inscription which is cared just below the Repledge (Katarama) of Cave No: l
Meaning: "An Upasaka named 'Sona' has gifted this cave 'Supatiththitha' to the Maha Sangha."
Here means Maha Sangha and denotes the name of the cave.
Two documents in Brahamin inscription dated Before Christ have been found inside the main Image House ("Budhu Madura" in Sinhalese) in cave No: 4. This has been inscribed about 25 ft below the Repledge (Katarama) towards the centre of the cave.
1st document
Meaning: "Son of Pussa Devage Guththa …………… gifted this cave".
Although it is not mentioned that this particular cave has not been gifted to the Maha Sangha, we can assume that it has been done so to all monks who inhabited the land in all directions.
2nd document
Meaning: "the cave belonging to the son named Pussa Deva has gifted this cave to the Maha Sangha".
According to this document the cave has been gifted to the Maha Sangha by Pussa Deva. As proclaimed by the Brahamin inscriptions B.C.
The name of the gifter and his fathers name have been mentioned. But unfortunately today the fathers name has been erased with the passing of time.
Attention should be focused on the rock inscriptions found by the excavating organisation of the archaeological department. They have been successful in bringing to light two rock inscriptions which hitherto have not been excavated, in front of the main Image House on a slab of stone.
This inscription done recently consists of a mixture of Sinhalese and party erased Brahamin letters. It can be assumed that this was a gift to the Viharaya.
Considering the importance and value of these rock inscriptions there are several conclusions we could arrive at. According to folklore this cave Viharaya is where warrior Pussa Deva was ordained as a monk and where he resided.
The letters of the period between the second and third century B.C. mentions the name of Pussa Deva. This documentary inscription belonging to the 2nd century B.C. regarding Pussa Deva and folklore are identical.
Another aspect which becomes prominent with these inscriptions is the fact that these caves have been renovated and offered to the temple by the devotees. A special feature of this offering is that these caves have been gifted not only to the Bhikkus residing here but also to all monks living in all directions of the country.
To the left of these inscriptions beneath the Repledge (katarama) is the emblem of the couch shell. This emblem should be taken into consideration because adjacent to the Brahamin inscriptions belonging to the era Before Christ there are couch shell is very rare. Therefore, it is reasonably to assume that the couch shell emblem signifies the authority of Pussa Deva.
Frescoes depicting bhikkus in meditation can be found on 'Sankhapala' rock. These inscriptions date back to the early Anuradhappura period.
Bharasa Verse (poems)
A very rare kind of creation by Venerable Karathota Dhammarama of the temple in verse form named " Bara Nama Gaba Saka " during the period of King Rajadhi Raja Singha takes special place in Sinhalese literature. This was written in order to apprise King Rjadhi Rajasingha of his literary abilities. As has been mentioned earlier this was written while serving a sentence in prison.
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