1979 - Sri Lanka - Flora and Fauna
Laki Senanayaka Paintings
20 Rupee note
In 1977 Laki Senanayaka was commissioned to design, draw and Paint the
set of currency Notes based on the theme Endemic
Flora and Fauna of Sri Lanka, which were issued by the Central Bank of
Ceylon (CBSL) dated 1979-03-26 and put into circulation in 1980 August.
Illustrates how the layout design of the Rs 20
note was developed.
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Ceylon blue Magpie
Kitta Ornata Laki'78
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Front: Landscape
At top right is a purple-faced langur (Pithecus Vetulus Monticola)
and at the centre is a bird, the wood pigeon (Columba Torringtoni),
atop a 'Batapath-damba' tree (Syzygium Rotundifolium),
set off a scenic background.
Back: Portrait
At centre is a rare native tree fern (Cyathea Sinuata),
above which appears a bird, the Ceylon blue Magpie (Kitta Ornata).
At bottom left appears a rhino-horned lizard (Ceratophora Stoddarti)
and at right a Common Rough-sided snake 'dalawa medilla' (Aspidura Trachyprocta),
all featured against a scenic background.
This Note displays Endemic Sri Lanka Flora and Fauna from the hill country.
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| Laki'77 Syzygium Rotundifolium
| Pithecus Vetulus Monticola
Hakgala 19-4-77
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Cyathea Sinuata
Laki 16-4-77
| Leaf (Detail)
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On Laki's request the back of the notes switched to Portrait mode for
the first time, and has remained that way for all future series of
definitive currency notes issued in Sri Lanka.
The website lakisenanayake.com has images of 44 of his designs
which had been painted at about 3 times the scale and had been scanned
at 100 dpi. Displayed above at 50 dpi of the issued note.
I thank Dominic Sansoni and Laki's daughter Mintaka for permission to
use the images of these paintings in the
notes.lakdiva.org.lk website.
