standing garudan on tortoise type padmanabha coin

8/7/2019 Standing Garudan on Tortoise Type Padmanabha Coin

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Standing Garudan on

Tortoise Type Padmanābha Coin

Jee Francis TherattilJee Francis TherattilJee Francis TherattilJee Francis Therattil &&&& Austin Jose H.Austin Jose H.Austin Jose H.Austin Jose H.

This is one of the latest additions in the collection of the latter, who is active in thefield of numismatics for about a decade. The coin was passed on from Mr. Sundararaj of

Chittoor, Palakkad Dist., Kerala, who is in the field for about three decades and anythingabout the provenance of this coin is receded into oblivion.

Garudan - anthropoid kite - appearing on Padmanābha coin series is not souncommon.1 But this is not the case with Garudan appearing on a Padmanābha coin in thetortoise sub-series. This is the only one known apart from a similar one reported to be in theBritish Museum collection.

Obverse 15 mm. Ø, 3.8 g. Reverse

Usually, Garudan is seen depicted in Padmanābha coins in a running posture, facingleft, with both arms raised - the posture depicted to represent Garudan praising the victory of his master - Vishnu [Vishnuvijayam ]. But here, Garudan is depicted in a standing posture asseen in the Ādikeshavaperumāl temple at Thiruvattār, Kanyakumari Dist., where he is at thefeet of Padmanābha Swami who is reclining facing right.2 This temple is related withDaeshinganād thāvazhi [branch] of Venād.



On the other side, Vishnu is depicted reclining facing left [of the coin] on the coiled[coils are seen depicted as three lines] serpent Ananthan - in the same Ananthashayanamposture as in the Padmanābha Swamy Temple at Thiruvananthapuram. The serpent isdepicted [only] in this coin as having six heads instead of five, the reason why Ananthan isoften called as Ainthalārnāgam . The presence of kūrmam - tortoise, the second incarnation of Vishnu - depicted facing left; superimposing the serpent makes this coin classified under thetortoise sub-series.

Similar coin in the British Museum is reported 3 as weighing 3.08 g and a diameter of 15 mm, whereas this one is having 3.8 g, which is in a fair state of preservation. The TWT[Thickness-Weight-Tortoise] theory4 applicable to Padmanābha coins put forward a few yearsago is in perfect tally with this coin also.

Even though the presence of Garudan on Venād coins may be indicating theinfluence of Vijayanagar Empire, the style of depiction is purely local. Vertical stylized fishsymbol is seen depicted without much significance and is to the right of elephant-earedGarudan who is seen wearing a two-tier pāvāda down to the knees.

We feel safe to attribute this rare issue to be between 15th and 17th Centuries AD.Even though a Nāyaka was installed over Venad after the conflicts with Vijayanagar during1532 and 1544 AD, as the depiction of style of Garudan in this coin has no similarities withthe style in the depiction of Garudan in Vijayanagar coins, a direct link of that issue with thepresent coin as displaying any sort of Vijayanagar supremacy is ruled out. The appearance of Garudan in a native style with an identity of its own can be best described only as anexhibition of the reverence towards faith by the Venād ruler, on a particular concept, rather than something imposed by an outsider over the Venād ruler, where the tarnishing of anindependent identity will be the prime factor.

Notes and References:

1a. Coin # A3, Anantasayanam and Thirai Cash of Venad and Travancore,

A study by Barbara Mears, 2000.

1b. Coin # 1195, page 255, The Coinage and History of Southern India,Part II, Michael Mitchiner, 1998.2. Courtesy to Dr. M. G. Sasibhooshan, Thiruvananthapuram,

for sharing this valuable observation.3. As a footnote for coins in Anantasayanam Special [As] Issues, Anantasayanam and Thirai

Cash of Venad and Travancore, A study by Mrs. Barbara Mears, 2000.4. Page 123, An Unique Padmanabha Type Coin of Venad,

Jee Francis Therattil, vol. XI, Studies in South Indian Coins, 2001.



Coin got identified and reported for the first time. An exhaustive study onPadmanābha type of coins and the derived TWT theory remains un-questioned till now.Noted and appreciated by the experts officially at the venue itself. Paper got published in the journal of the South Indian Numismatic Society, volume XI in 2001 with the title ‘An UniquePadmanābha Type Coin of Venād’.

Jee Francis TherattilThiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.

E-mail: [email protected]

standing garudan on tortoise type padmanabha coin

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