This Tulabharam issue gold half-pagoda issued from the princely state is listed for INR 150,000 in the upcoming auction Todywalla which will be held in Mumbai on 20 July 2019.

During the medieval period, Travancore was one of the most prosperous and powerful kingdoms of medieval India. The kings of Travancore had issued many beautiful coins in all three metals gold silver and copper. The people or the king of the Travancore use to worship Lord Vishnu, therefore the majority of the Travancore coins feature objects and symbols associated with Lord Vishnu.

This Tulabharam coin is the special coins issued by the king of Travancore. This is issued during the special ceremony performed by the king known as ‘Tulabharam’. The ceremony is performed by the king once in their lifetime. On these occasions, the body of the king is weighed against an equal weight of gold coins, which are then distributed among the learned Brahmins. The gold, after purification, is coined in different sizes and weights.

Originally these coins were circular pieces of gold with letters “Sri Padmanabha” in Malayalam on the obverse, the reverse being blank. But those coined in later times contained the letters within a floral wreath while on the reverse was the Sankha or Conch-shell (the state emblem of Travancore) encircled by a wreath.

Image Courtesy: Todywalla Auction