2017-01-09 Mon

Being the ardent devotees of Lord Vishnu or Padmanabha, the kings of Travancore issued many coins in association with Lord Vishnu. One such coin depicts one of the rarest representations of the sleeping Vishnu.

During pre-independence period, Travancore was one of the most prosperous and powerful kingdoms of medieval India. At that time, Marthanda Varma and Balarama Varma were ruling in Travancore. These Travancore kings minted many beautiful coins in different metals such as silver and copper.

The majority of the coins of these devotees of Lord Vishnu or Padmanabh who called themselves 'Padmanabha Dasa' i,e, servant of Padmanabha featured Lord Vishnu as well as objects and symbols associated with Lord Vishnu.

One of such unique copper coin of Travancore had Lord Padmanabha in sleep (Anantasayana). A 4 Cash copper coin depicts God Vishnu reclining on left on Obverse and the reverse features a sceptre between Sankh and a Diamond, with a crescent above.

This was one of the rarest representations of the sleeping Vishnu on a coin.