The illustrations in this album depict the legend of the virtuous king Siri Sanghaboo of Sri Lanka, who is believed to have sacrificed himself so that a poor man could earn the reward placed on Sanghaboo’s head by his rival. This tale is inspired by the Vesantara Jataka (Jataka refers to a collection of 547 stories of the previous lives of the Buddha in the course of his long progression to his final birth).One in a set of 20 chalk, pen and water colour drawings, these paintings do not really correspond to any traditional Sri Lankan style mural painting but are still important as they illustrate the significance of Buddhist virtues as they were taught to children in schools all over Sri Lanka. It is a very popular jataka story and widely known in Sri Lanka.
