The Jataka, one of the books of Khuddaka Nikaya of the Pali Canon (Tripitaka), has in all 547 stories of the past lives of Gautama the Buddha. The Jataka stories, being full of wit and humour, worldly wisdom, moral lessons, and pious legends of semi-historical nature, were very helpful in popularising the Dhamma amongst the masses. As such, they were not only handed down orally from generation to generation but were also carved or painted on the walls of the Buddhist monuments. As in India, so also in other Buddhist countries, the Jataka stories decorate the temples.