Sigiri Graffiti: New Readings

BENILLE PRIYANKA

This article is a continuation of an earlier paper on the same subject which appeared in The Settlement Archaeology of the Sigiriya-Dambulla Region (Bandaranayake 1990). In the former article 53 Sigiri Graffiti, of which 49 were deci phered for the first time, were published with texts and trans­ lations.

The present article brings to light texts and translations of yet another 97 Sigiri Graffiti, hitherto unread. Among these, 83 belong to the Anuradhapura period and 14 to the Polonnaruva and Dambadeniya periods.

The purpose of this article is only to present the author’s findings. It is in no way a comprehensive study. An analysis based on the grammar, epigraphy and etymology of the graf­ fiti has to be studied at a later stage. The present endeavour is to decipher as many of the unread graffiti as possible be­ fore undertaking a linguistic study.

A few brief remarks on the new collection of Sigiri Graf­ fiti presented in this article are given below.

No. 55. is a song attributable to the 10th century AD. (Late Anuradhapura Period). The writer has commenced the record by mentioning ‘Seneviradun Vahansege', which re­ veals that he was a general of King Sena’s army. The song concludes with mention of ‘Senrajäli kit, which is interprete- d interpreted that the writer’s name was Kit (Kirti) who served King Sena.

No. 73. suggests that some writers considered very sim­ple records as gi and briefly mentions that they saw the ‘golden lady in the cave’. ‘Mapattalaviya janavi Aboya ga gi/Gal beyadhi ranavana dutuvamo me gi-badmo'

No. 71. "Sarasavi Bälu Pansilu Agano bälu"

In this poem we come across another interpretation for the ladies in the paintings. The writer of this record has viewed the paintings as depicting ‘Sarasavi’ (Sri Kantha) and ‘Pansilu’.

It may be noted that among the 685 graffiti deciphered by Paranavitana, there were a number of poems in which their writers give different interpretations to the ladies in the paintings. The above poem adds to this collection of inter­ pret- ations.

Unlike the poetic graffiti which are versified, another simpie category of records can be identified too. They are short sentences written by various visitors recording their visit. No. 67 mentions simply that the writer is paying a visit to the great lion in the Sigiri rock.

‘Sri! Mihi Sihimiyan Galamen Yanne'

No. 72 mentions that the writer came to Sigiriya to record news on the Mirror Wall. He also mentions that he saw the ‘golden lady in the cave’.

"Puvat ley a yannat amo, Sigiri bedahi ranvan katava bälumo'

No. 69 is another short record. It says that the writer did not compose and record a poem (gz) because many people before him had written songs on the Mirror Wall.

"Kamaravulu Budmit pa ma Bomi! GT boho jana liyen nolTmT

A considerable number of such short records which are not poems still await deciphering.

On the other hand, very brief records which demonstrate more poetic expression have been deciphered and presented in this article. They cannot be considered mere prose sen­ tences. Some examples are :

No. 75. ‘Topa kima bahakaya pavasata me sihi srT padaye *

No. 79. ‘Svasti! Pahandak kadabitve he kat nevandute balu’

No. 76. ‘Sihiraka dev ad parijima siri kadvure asuvi kopaya’

No. 74. "Svasti! Sohaduk nivada avuda pirivarni gT tivara giya ’

No. 71. "Sarasavi balu pansilu agano balu’

The majority of the graffiti appearing in Paranavitana’s publication {Sigiri Graffiti), are relatively longer than the examples given above. We do not know whether Paranavitana had been selective in deciphering the longer graffiti, or whether he read the ones which conform to the specific prosody he had been discussing in his book.

In addition to the examples quoted above, the collection of graffiti presented here contains a number of songs, eg. Nos. 55,64, 66, 80, 100, 101, 102, 103 which conform both by length and poetic expression to the pattern of poems gen­ erally found on the Mirror Wall. Other than the above, there are 11 records which are incomplete poems. Five other records mention only the name of the writer. All the exam­ ples quoted above belong to the Late Anuradhapura Period (circa 8th century AD. - 10th century AD.). A number of records belonging to the Polonnaruva and Dambadeniya Periods (circa 11th century AD. - 13th century AD.) have also been deciphered here. Among them No. 99. is a record which had been written in the 25th regnal year of King Parakramabahu. No. 56. had been written in the 10th year of ‘Kalinga Chakravarti'. There is another record which had been written in the 15th year of ‘ Vathimi Nakka Siva\ interpreted ‘Nakka Siva’ (name), whose title was ‘ Vathimi' (treasurer).

As shown below, the Mirror Wall is marked with yard numbers. The following examples will illustrate the identi­ fication of the graffiti using the respective measurements (see fig. 14:2 and 14:3).

Example: Identification of Graffiti A.

Between yard Nos. 10 and 11.

x:5"/y:50”.

Horizontal distance from the vertical lines

demarcating yard No. 10. x is always read from

the lesser yard No.

y:50" the vertical distance from ground level.

Identification of Graffiti B.

Below yard No. 11 .x:0"/y:40".

x:0" the vertical line yard No.l1.

y:40" the vertical distance from ground level

Position : On the Mirror Wall. x:28”/y:70”. Between yard Nos. 29 and 30. Four lines. The first is 11 l/2in., the second 10 l/2in., the third 10 in. and the fourth l in. in length. The script is of the 12th century. Average height of the letters is about 1 in.

Text : › 1.ශ්‍රී මායාගෙහි සාහිතිය රාජො ඈ

2.දුරු කාවා කොනුර ගලහි

3.විහි රතපුලැ කොටැ ලී

4.වී

Text 1. Sri māyāgehi sāhitiya rajo ä

2. duru kākā konura galahi

3. vihi ratapulä Kota li

4. vi

Translation : Sri! I am Konura, the Chief poet of the Coun­cil of the heir to the throne ((māyā – the maha ādipada)I wrote this for the red lotus who lives on the Rock.

Position : On the Mirror Wall. x:15 l/2”/y:84". Between yard Nos. 63 and 64. Three lines. The first is 22in., the sec­ond 71 in. and the third 23 l/2in. in length. The script is of the 10th century. Average height of the letters is about 2in.

Text 1.සෙනෙවිරදුන් වහසෙගෙ

2.එදැක අගනටප සිහිවන හිතිනි වෙය සෙනෙ

එහි රජණන් වන් රන්වනිහන් ඒහි ඒබස් රස

ජනනෙ ගී කෙ වලින් නොලියෙනය්

3.සෙන්රජැලි කිත් රැව රසගා ලි

Text 1.Seneviradun Vahasege

2.Edäka aganatapa sihivana hitini veya sene ehi

rajanan van ranvanihan ehi rasa janane gī kevalin no liyeneyi

3. Senrajäli Kit ruva rasaga lī

Translation : This is by the Honourable General (of the king’s army). These golden ladies are like queens who in­ spire love in our hearts. When they speak such beautiful words, who can resist writing a poem ? I am Kit (Kirti) who serves King Sena. I composed this poem in appreciation of the painting on the Rock.

Position : On the Mirror Wall. x:57/y:56". Between yard Nos. 6 and 7. Six lines. The first is 12in., the second 12in., the third 12 l/2in., the fourth 12 l/2in., the fifth 11 l/2in. and the sixth 3in. in length. The script can be assigned to the 12th century. Average height of the letters is about 1 in.

Text : 1.කාලිංඟ වක්‍රවන්ති සුවාමින්

2.වහන්සෙ දස වනුයේ ශ්‍රී පාදා

3.සව වසනා මාපහ නකරෙ පාලක

4.මි ... පැමැණ.. බලා ගියෙ

5.රදගෙයි සෙද පියොවියන් බලා ගියෙ

6.නියායි.

Text 1. Kālinga cakravatti suvāmin

2. vahanse dasa vanuye srī pādā

3. sava vasana māpaha nakare pālaka

4. mi ... pämina .... balā giye

5. radageyi seda piyoviyan balā giye

6. niyāyi

Translation : (I) visited this place in the 1 Oth regnal year of my Lord, King Kalinga Chakravarti. I am a Governor of a city. I serve the King. 1 saw the lovable ladies of this court.

Position : On the Mirror Wall. x:18"/y:66". Between yard Nos. 17 and 18. Two lines. The first is 10 l/2in. and the second 11 l/2in. in length. The script is of the 11th century. Average height of letters is about 3/4in.

Text 1.විසිවනු බැගැ නැඟී කැටපත් මහරු පවු

2.හැමැ දෙනු ව හසෙ පුළ කත්ති ලීමි.

Text 1. Visivanu Bagä nägī kätapat maharu pav

2. häm ä denu vaha se pula Kitti līmi

Translation : I am Pula Kitti. I visited the Mirror Wall in the month of Bak in the twentieth regnal year of the King.

Position : On the Mirror Wall. x:87y:9 3/4". Between yard Nos. 8 and 9. Two lines. The first is 13in. and the second 9 3/4in. in length. The script is attributable to the 11th cen­tury. Average height of the letters is about 1 in.

Text 1.මෙ බලා ගියෙමො සයැ අද් බල

2.යාමි මා නියම් කෙතාමි

Text 1. Mebalā giyemo sayä ad bala

2. yāmi māniyam ketāmi

Translation : We visited this place. (We say) Saya athbalaya and Maha niyam ketā.

Position : On the Mirror Wall. x:20.5'7y:68". Between yard Nos. 26 and 27. Two lines. The first is 4in. and the second 3 3/4in. in length. The script is of the 12th century. Average height of the letters is about l/4in.

Text 1. බෙනර් වැහි ......වඩ්ගුර

2. සුවයාමි (නැ)ග ලිමි

Text 1. Benar vähi.... vadgura

2. Suvayāmi (nä)ga līmi

Translation: I am Suvayā the Master carpenter (vadgura) who lives at Benara. I climbed (up here) and wrote this.

Text 1. ජෙටෙ බස් වජ් හිණිගෙර් පාලයහයාමි

2. බැලීමි

Text 1. Jete bas vaj hiniger pālayaha yāmi

2. bälīmi

Translation : 1 am Hiniger Pāia, the jeta bas vaj (a title). I saw this place.

Position : On the Mirror Wall. x:7'/y:6". Between yard Nos. 6 and 7. One line which is l0in. in length. The script is of the 12th century. Average height of letters is about 1 in.

Text 1. සාපෙලවක වත්කැමි බලා ගැයැ

Text 1. Sāpelavaka Vatkämi balā giyä

Translation : I am sā pelavaka Vatkämi, who visited this.

Position : On the Mirror Wall. x:8”/y:67". Between yard Nos. 24 and 25. Two lines. The first is 8in. and the second 6in. in length. The script is attributable to the 12th century. Average height of the letters is about l in.

Text 1 සණා පසල් දෙවැ

2. වමහ...

Text 1. Sanā pasal deva

2. Vamaha…..

Translation : I am Sanā Pasal Devä

Position : On the Mirror Wall. x:9'/y:73". Between yard Nos. 2 and 28. Three lines. The first is 5 l/2in., the second 6in. and the third 1 l/2in. in length. The script is attributable to the 11th century. Average height of the letters is about 1 in. Record is an incomplete song.

Text 1 මහමැහි පියණා මි

2.තා මිය නෙ දැකැ

3. පත

Text 1. Mahamähi piyanāmi

2. tā miya ne däkä

3. pata

Translation : I am Maha Mahi Piyana. Seeing you dying (incomplete poem).

Text 1 දුරුවැ යැනා කතුන්ගෙ වග රුහිසිලියාසෙ

2.බැලි ති සය නිවෙ දාකුත් දො සොහි ලියා බසිමි.

Text 1. Duruvä yänā katunge vaga ruhisiliyāse

2. bäli tā say a nive dākut do sogi liyā basimi

Translation : I saw the beauty of these damsels who are fading away. I have found consolation for my grief. Yet I write this sad poem and climb down.

Position : On the Mirror Wall. x:0'7y:21". Below yard No. 11. One line which is 4in. long. The script is attributable to the 9th century. Average height of the letters is about 1/4 in.

Text 1.ඇජ්ගිරි වෙහෙරින් ආ දළ් බතිමි ලිතිමි.

Text 1. Äjgiri veherin ā dal batimi litimi

Translation : I who wrote this am Dal Bati who came from Athgiri Vihara.

Position : On the Mirror Wall. x:30"/y:32.5". Between yard Nos. 27 and 28. Three lines. The first is 4in., the second 7in. and the third 4.5in in length. The script can be dated to the 10th century. Average height of the letters is about 1/4 in.

Text 1. මන ගන්න වරණෙනන තොප

2. හන්දුනෙනු කළා සිර්මැලියෙ ගතා යෙහෙලියි

3. කි ඒනු වනිද් නිල සිවනු ගී

Text 1. Managanna varanenana topa

2. hadunenu kala sirmäliye gatā yeheliyi

3. Kienu vanid nila sivanu gī

Translation : I recognized you from your attractive complexion (colour). Your body is tender. O my friend ! This is a song by the merchant (vanid) Neela Siva.

Position : On the Mirror Wall, x: 1l"/y:7.5". Between yard Nos. 37 and 38. One line which is 6in. in length. The script is attributable to the 9th century. Average height of the let­ ters is about l/4in.

Text 1. ශ්‍රී මිහි සිහිමියන් බලමෙන් යන්නෙ

Text 1. Sri mihi sihimiyan balamen yanne

Translation : Sri! We look at the great lion as we go along.

Position : On the Mirror Wall. x:30"/y:66.5". Between yard Nos. 47 and 48. One line which is 4in. in length. The script is attributable to the 8th century. Average height of the let­ ters is about l/8in.

Text 1. ස්වස්ති බොදුර් වමයැ අයුත මමයි බැලි.

Text 1. Svasti! Bodur vamayä ayuta mamayi baäli

Translation : Hail ! I am Bodur. I have come to visit this place.

Position : On the Mirror Wall. x:13.57y:65". Between yard Nos. 47 and 48. One line which is 64.5in. long. The script is attributable to the 9th century. Average height of the letters is about l/4in.

Text 1. කාමරවුලු බුද්මිත් පා ම බොමි ගී බොහො ජනා ලීයෙන් නොලීමි.

.

Text 1. Kamaravulu Budmit pā mabomi gī boho janā līyen nolīmi

Translation : I am Maha Bo from the bud mit pā (temple or mansion) at Kamaravulu. Since many have written poems, I do not write one.

Position : On the Mirror Wall. x:3”/y:19.5”. Between yard Nos. 30 and 31. One line which is 8in. in length. The script is attributable to the 9th century. Average height of the let­ ters is about l/2in. The song is incomplete.

Text 1.කොටියාල බතියුනා ගී ස්වස්ති බැලුමො නැගැ

Text 1. Kotiyāla batiyuna gī Svasti balumo nagä

Translation : This is the song of Batiyunā from Kotiyāla.

Position : On the Mirror Wall. x:20"/y:32”. Between yard Nos. 12 and 13. Two lines. The first is 5.5in. and the second 3.5in. in length. The script is attributable to the 10th cen­ tury. Average height of the letters is about l/2in.

Text 1. සරසවි බැලු පන්සිලු

2.අගනො බැලූ

Text 1. Sarasavi bälu pansilu

2. agano bälu

Translation : We saw the ladies who resemble Sarasvati. They seem the work of Pansilu (Vishvakarma).

Position : On the Mirror Wall. x:327y:23”. On yard No. 14. One line which is 12in. in length. The script is attribut­ able to the 9th century. Average height of the letters is about 1/4 in.

Text 1. පුවත් ලෙයා යන්නට් ආමො සිහිගිරි බෙදහි රන්වන් කතව බැලුමො

Text 1. Puvat leyā yannat āmo Sihigiri bedahi ranvan katava bälumo

Translation : We came to record the information (that) we saw the golden damsels in the Sigiri cave.

Position : On the Mirror Wall.x:3l”/y:28.5". Between yard Nos. 13 and 14. One line which is Ilin, in length. The script is attributable to the 9th century. Average height of the let­ ters is about l/8in.

Text 1. ම පත්තලාවිය ජනවි අබොය ගැ ගී ගල්

බෙයද්හි රනවන දුටුවමො මෙ ගී බද්මො

Text 1. Ma pattalāviya janavi Aboya gä gī gal

beyadhi ranavana dutuvamo me gī badmo

Position : On the Mirror Wall. x:27.5’7y:22.5". Between yard Nos 12 and 13. One line which is 5in. long. The script is attributable to the 9th century. Average height of the let­ters is about l/8in.

Text 1. ස්වස්ති සොහදුක් නිවද අවුද පිරිවිර්නි ගි තිවර ගිය

Text 1. Svasti! Sohaduk nivada avuda pirivimi gitivara giya

Translation : Hail ! Our company has arrived. We leave this song to comfort you in your grief.

Position : On the Mirror Wall. x:32"/y:22.5". Between yard Nos. 28 and 29. Two lines. The first is 3in. and the second 1/ 2in. in length. The script is attributable to the 8th century. Average height of the letters is about l/8in.

Text 1. තොපැ කිම බහකය පවසන මෙ සිහි

2. ශ්‍රී පාදයෙ

Text 1. Topä kima bahakaya pavasata me sihi

2. Srī padaye.

Translation : What do you keep murmuring at the feet of this majestic Lion.

Position : On the Mirror Wall. x:0"/y:24". On yard No. 31. One line which is 7.5in. in length. The script is attributable to the 9th century. Average height of the letters is about 1/ 16in.

Text 1. සිහිරක දෙවි අද් පරිජිම සිරි

2. කද්වරෙ අසුවි කොපයැ

Text 1. Sihiraka dev ad parijima

2. Siri kadvure asuvi kopaya

Translation : You who are caught in this jail are very angry. You must keep your proper senses (stay calm) now and in the future.