Srilankan inscriptions

History  sources  specially  mention about  how  sinhala  language  and literacy developed  after  these two mission.it is said that writing started after  the arrival  of arahat  mahinda thero. How ever, mahavansa and some  other history sources  mention that even before that therr was an art of writing in this  society. We have been  endowed with a script of letters that  should have been used  after the reign  of  king  devanampiyathissa.this  becomes evident with the excavations conducted by Dr.siran deraniyagala near the "dedi De" in anuradhapura.

          In the thied century  BC,after the arrival of arahat  mahinda thero,these brahmi letters  have been  found  from different  locations  of the country. If you go to  Mihinthale, in rock caves there,you can see the inscriptions that were written  in brahmi script. These brahmi letters can be introduced as the original  state of what we use today. They  should have been  evolved  for  long periods of time.  these brahmi letters can be seen not only in our country  but also in ancient  bharatha india.how ever, they are different  from  what  we find in our country.

Most of  the  oldest  inscriptions  that are found  in rock  caves  had been  written in this brahmi script. In most  of these inscriptions, it is mentioned that these caves  were donated to the buddhist priests  for their use.most of them start with the words,

        ""Agatha  anagatha chathudisa sagasa dine"

This can be defined as follows; 

  Agatha anagatha -the bhikkus who came and who did not come 

Chathudisa -from the four direction

Sagasa- for bhikkus 

Dine- donated or offered

Accordingly, these inscriptions had been written to announce that these rock caves had been donated to the maha sangha from every part of the country.

           The following  chart describes how the modern  sinhala  alphabet  was influenced by the brahmi script.

It is quite  apparent that  the sinhala alphabet  is as old as the sinhala nation.these letters were carved  on rocks and in caves during the ancient times.some of our people  used to believe that under  these stone carvings, there were hidden treasures so they were tempted to destroy them. These carvings  are really  national  treasures to reveal  our heritage.therefore,they should  be prrserved and conserved.people should be educated about the importance of them.

                  When we read the brahmi script in very old inscriptions, we can se these letters would  have developed into modern  sinhala alphabet. Regarding  this,"giri lipi" or "parwatha lipi"(rock inscriptions) are also very significant.a large number  of rock inscriptions  were found in india too.most of them had been written  during  the  reign  of king asoka.but, in srilanka,such a large number of rock  inscriptions are not found

But,there  is one significant rock inscriptions  which has been written in brahmi which was discovered near a dagaba  in which the relics or remains of arahat mahinda thero had been kept.there,on the inscriptions, the words were written  which  can be defined as,

                 "This  is the  stupa in which the remaining  of  arahat 

                    Mahinda thero and arahat itthiya thero are deposited"

A very significant historical  factor is revealed by this rock inscriptions which could be found in rajarata kanda in ampars district.there also,it is mentioned about the visit to srilanka by arahat  mahinda thero and arahat itthiya thero