2017-01-11 Wed

Of all the other historical facts that a coin helps to reconstruct, religious faiths of a king or a dynasty are one of the important factors. This Gold pagoda of Tirumalaraya of Vijayanagara Empire depicting Ram Lakshman Sita is an important evidence in building the religious background of the contemporary period.

Tritumalaraya was one of the son – in – laws of Krishnadevaraya and the founder of the last and the fourth dynasty (Arvidu Dynasty) of Vijayanagara Empire. He rebelled against the elder brother Ramaraya and assumed the imperial titles.

The coinage of Tirumalaraya is extensive. Though he mainly issued copper coins, all of them exhibit a fine workmanship and the contemporary art. The only Gold coin that was issued by him comes in the denominations of Pagoda and Half Pagoda.

This gold coin of Tirumalaraya depicting Ram, Lakshman and Sita is a unique example found in the field of numismatics. The coin depicts Rama in the middle flanked by Sita on his left and Lakshman on the right is seen on the obverse. The reverse of the coin has Nagari legend “Sri Tirumalarayaru”.