முதன்முதலாய் அச்சான முருகன் நாணயங்கள் (உஜ்ஜயினி ஜனபதம்)
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N. Ganesan
Jul 27, 2025, 11:53:12 AMJul 27
to Santhavasantham
கோழியும் வேலும் ஏந்திய ஸ்கந்தன்/முருகன்/கார்த்திகேயன்/குமரன்/குகன்/சுப்பிரமணியன் - 1000 ஆண்டுகளின் சிற்பங்கள்:
ஜான் ஆலன் (Keeper of Numismatics, British museum) 1936-ம் ஆண்டு ஒருவகை உஜ்ஜயினி ஜனபத நாணயங்களை
கார்த்திகேயன் நாணயங்கள் என்றார். சிலர் பின்னர் சிவன் என்றனர். ஆனால் யாரும் முருகனின் இடக்கையில்
உள்ளது என்ன என விளக்க முற்பட்டார் இல்லை. மேலே கொடுத்துள்ள பெருஞ்சிற்பங்களைக் கொண்டு உஜ்ஜெயினிக்
காசுகளில் உள்ளது சேவல் என விளக்கியுள்ளேன். கங்கைகொண்ட சோழபுரத்தில் உள்ள முருகனின் பெருஞ்செப்புப்
படிமத்தில் கையில் சேவலைக் கார்த்திகேயன் ஏந்தியுள்ளான். இது பல்லவர்கள் தொடங்கியது.
நீண்ட வேலும், இடக்கையில் குக்குடமும் ஏந்திய உஜ்ஜெயினிக் காசுகளை பாரதத்தில் முதலாய் ஏற்பட்ட முருகன் சிற்பங்கள்,
வடிவ அமைப்பியல் எனலாம். மௌர்ய காலக் கார்ஷபணங்கள், மகரவிடங்கருக்கு அசுவமேத யாகம் பல செய்து
நாணயங்கள் வெளியிட்ட பல்யாகசாலை முதுகுடுமிப் பெருவழுதி காலம் ஆகிய கிமு 3-ம் நூற்றாண்டு வாக்கில்
வட இந்தியாவின் ஸ்கந்தன் பிறப்பு, கார்த்திகைப் பெண்டிர் போன்ற வானவியல் புராணங்கள் தமிழகம் வந்தடைந்தன எனலாம்.
இவை சற்று காலம் சென்றபின்னர் பரிபாடல் (5), திருமுருகு, சிலம்பு போன்றவற்றில் விரிவாகச் சொல்லப்படுகின்றன.
பிற பின்!
நா. கணேசன்
Skanda coins from Ujjain, Post-Mauryan period (200 BCE - 50 CE)
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Building upon the foundational work of John Allan, the learned British Museum numismatist who, in 1936, was the first to assert that diminutive coins depict Kartikeya rather than Shiva [Ref. 1], I wholeheartedly concur with his analysis. A critical yet hitherto undiscussed iconographic detail is the object held in the deity's left hand. Through extensive examination of numerous numismatic examples, I have ascertained that this object consistently maintains a near-horizontal orientation is the rooster, thereby precluding its identification as a kamaṇḍalu (pitcher)—a conclusion Allan himself perceptively reached nine decades prior. John Allan called the rooster as "uncertain bag-like object" and "bag(?)", see the attached scans from J. Allan book.
Here are the plastic art, spanning 1000 years, showing Kumaraswamy holding a kukkuṭa,
Comparative analysis with subsequent plastic art of Kartikeya, particularly examples such as the Mandsaur Kartikeya from the same geographical locale, strongly indicates that this object is a rooster. Also, look at the Samalaji (Gujarat) Skanda. Given the minute dimensions of these coins (approximately the width of a human finger), the coinmakers employed an abstraction of the cockerel's body, rendering it horizontally to mitigate misinterpretation as a pitcher (kamaṇḍalu). This technique of abstracting animal forms on small seals finds precedent in the Harappan period, exemplified by the Makara (H-180) crocodile depicted mating with the great goddess, where the tail is omitted, as discussed at
Skanda Coins from Ujjain, with long lance/spear and rooster/kukkuṭa. Many examples,
Furthermore, the Ujjain coins of Skanda exhibit direct continuity from Mauryan punch-marked coinage. A salient Mauryan symbol consistently present on Skanda coins from the Ujjaini region is the circle with spokes of alternating pipal leaf with a pointed tip (representing the goddess), alongside the gaping mouth of the crocodile (Makara, symbolizing Varuṇa). This iconographic evidence unequivocally identifies the ancient deity bearing a lance/spear and rooster as Skanda, surely demonstrating the absence of Shiva's trident and kamaṇḍalu. In contrast, the three-faced "Mahakala" (Shiva) coins from Ujjain depict the deity holding a mace (gada), not Skanda's characteristic long lance. The mace is an established attribute of Mahākāla/Yama/Dvarapāla, including in Buddhist contexts, for which the Ujjain Mahakala coins represent the earliest instances. It is imperative to differentiate the gada(mace) of Mahakala coins from the lance/spear (Tamil Vel வேல்) of Skanda coins. Also, thinking of Mauryan punch-marked coins, if the human with a plough is Balarama, and the one with the wheel is Krushna/Vishnu, the human with long lance is Skanda. Balarama with the wild ass is mentioned from Ujjain coins. Or, is it an Asvamedha coin? Skanda in Mauryan punch-marked coins theme can be researched further. A human with long lance and a zebu bull in punch-marked coins. Is it a farmer (or, Skanda) with cattle? or, is it zebu sacrifice in yagya? Obviously, Mahakala with three faces and holding a mace is a later development (~last century century of Ujjain era).
The dating of the Ujjain coins to the Post-Mauryan period (200 BCE-50 CE) aligns with the temporal framework during which the Vedic deity Varuṇa undergoes a transformation into Śiva. Notably, the oldest Lingam in India, located at Gudimallam (3rd century BCE), distinctly portrays Varuṇa with his axe,
Sangam texts call the Varuṇa-Lingam at Gudimallam as "maḻu vāḷ neṭiyōṉ". See Figs. 4 and 5 for North Indian examples of Anthropomorphic Axe (maḻu vāḷ neṭiyōṉ) from Post-Harappan OCP/CHC period.
While Ujjaini Skanda coins featuring the lance and rooster are ubiquitous and chronologically precede later developments, the recent discovery of a limited number of exceedingly rare Ujjain coins bearing the trident suggests the incipient stages of Shiva's iconographic development. These later examples likely signify Shiva's subsequent syncretism with aspects of Vedic Varuna, such as the incorporation of ithyphallicism (associated with the Lingam) and the integration of Varuna's axe with the trident. The eventual addition of Nandi as his vāhana and the kamaṇḍalam (symbolizing asceticism) culminated in the complete iconographic representation of Shiva. Since Asvamedha sacrifice for Makara (Varuṇa) is shown in a water tank in the 3rd century BCE Pandya coins, Murukan with lance and rooster themes must have reached in the last centuries BCE to Tamil Nadu along with Astronomy based birth stories of Kartikeya, and this is reflected well in Sangam texts.
Ref. 1: John Allan, A Catalogue Of The Indian Coins In The British Museum (Coins Of Ancient India), 1967 (Reprint of 1936 edition).
N. Ganesan
Adi Tiruvadirai Day
Birthday of emperor, Rajendra Chozhan (b. 971 CE)
N. Ganesan
Aug 4, 2025, 11:18:58 PMAug 4
to Santhavasantham, Asko Parpola, George Hart
ராஜராஜ சோழன் தொடங்கி 300 ஆண்டுகள் அதிகப் புழக்கத்தில் இருந்த
முருகன்/சுப்பிரமணியர் நாணயங்கள்:
Explaining the Abstract design aspects of these important coins,
https://x.com/naa_ganesan/status/1951459293204496535
கங்கைகொண்ட சோழபுரம் - இந்திய வரலாற்றில்,
https://x.com/naa_ganesan/status/1949459059012251709
முருகன்/சுப்பிரமணியர் நாணயங்கள்:
Explaining the Abstract design aspects of these important coins,
https://x.com/naa_ganesan/status/1951459293204496535
கங்கைகொண்ட சோழபுரம் - இந்திய வரலாற்றில்,
https://x.com/naa_ganesan/status/1949459059012251709
Summary:
Obverse side: In the Imperial Chola coins whose basic design was in wide circulation for four centuries, the Chola king is shown on the obverse side, often with his name in Nagari script inscription. He is seen holding a Conch, declaring victory and the end of hostilities. In a variant of the Conch with aperture, an annular ring is shown in Kahavanu coins (gold stater). It is the shape of a conch bangle. It is noteworthy that the indologist Asko Parpola takes conch bangles in Indus seals as the sign of the god Muruku. In the Gupta coins also, the king is shown on the obverse.
Reverse side: Gupta gold coins show Hindu deities in the reverse side. Similarly, the imperial Cholas who were devout Shaivaites issued gold coins with Subrahmanya/Murukan on the reverse side. For the Cholas, Subramanya, the warrior general, was the favored personal deity. The Gangaikonda Cholapuram example of the Subrahmanya bronze, holding a rooster in the left hand is a good example. Cholas were devout Shaivaites, and a study of the Reverse side shows the Shaivaite deity, Skanda/Murukan. Researching all the objects and attributes on this side of the coin helps to conclude that the deity shown is the favorite deity, Skanda -the warrior general Deva Senapati - of the warrior kings, Cholas who formed the first Navy in India.
(1) Like in Yaudheya coins of Skanda holding Vel (barbed harpoon), these Chola coins have the Vel/Spear weapon on the left side. This is an ancient weapon shown even in Indus seals, evolved from harpoons. This weapon is shown as Shakti weapon in Chola temples on Skanda's tip right hand in Tanjore and Gangaikonda Cholapuram temples in abstract form.
(2) Next to the Vel/harpoon is the Srivatsa, a prosperity symbol which is shown in Chera, Chola and Pandya coins from the Sangam period. It started out as an endless knot originally (Sree Padma, Vicissitudes of the Goddess,OUP, 2013). While the name of the symbol is recent, it is seen in all three of India's religions, Hindu, Jainism and Buddhism. It is a Mahapurusha Lakshanam and an ashta mangalam symbol and seen in the chest of Theerthankar. In the early phase of Buddhist art, Srivatsa is a symbol used to represent the Buddha himself. The Srivatsa symbol used by Cholas is the same one seen in Chalukya coins, six centuries earlier.
(3) Kadamba "barringtonia acutangula" flower garland at Skanda's feet are there. Kaḍamba garland represents joy, happiness, peace after victory is shown at the feet. At the tip of the natural Kadambu garland is a lotus. In Tamil Sangam tradition, the priest of Murukan wears Kaḍambu garland, and serves as an oracle cure love sickness, hence the priest is called Kaḍamban (Cf. Maangudi Kizhar). OTOH, veṭci "scarlet ixora" flowers will be shown in War scenes.
(4) Murukan/Skanda is the god of Kurinji (mountains) landscape (Tolkappiyam). The mountains are indicated as five circular pellets, next to the Kadamba garland.
(5) Finally, as in the large sculptures and in the Ujjaini coins of Skanda, the rooster is held in the left hand of Skanda/Murukan in these imperial Chola coins. The bird is shown flapping its wings. When the conch is abstracted to a ring on the obverse side, the rooster is represented as a simple full circle. The rooster is chosen to symbolize agility and combativeness, traits observed in its fighting behavior — qualities also admired in young soldiers. The rooster as a symbol of war went all the way to Greece (8th century BC) from India, and is the pre-eminent symbol of warrior god, Skanda.
All these five points decide the identity of the deity as the Hindu god, Skanda/Murukan in these imperial Chola coins.
N. Ganesan
https://x.com/naa_ganesan/status/1951736823782453497
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