Tivanka Image House: Muga Pakkha Jataka

SRI LANKA, North Central Province, Polonnaruwa; Polonnaruwa Kingdom

Painted on the north wall of the portico at the Tivanka Image House, this mural depicts a scene from the Muga Pakkha Jataka, Pali Jataka No. 538. In one of the Buddha’s previous lives, he was a prince named Temiya. When he was young, the prince felt ill at ease when he watched his father the king sentence criminals to violent punishments. He recalled that he himself had done the same when he was a king in a previous life, and had subsequently suffered in hell. To avoid making the same mistake, the prince pretended that he was deaf, blind, and mute in order to be spared the responsibility of ascending to the throne.
The mural depicts a scene from the story in which the prince, unwanted by the king because of his perceived disabilities, is taken to a graveyard to be killed and buried. On the right, the prince, wearing a crown and looking dignified, tells his would-be executioner why he has deceived the king. The simply-dressed executioner appears thoughtful, realizing that the prince is a wise being. A horse and a carriage wait beside the two figures. The dense vegetation in the picture indicates that the graveyard is located outside the city.