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