New Indian Commemoratives - a bad tendency

Of late, the government of India are minting coins with busts of several personalities. This has completely taken away the charm from the coins. What is more alarming is that some of the lesser personalities, merely because they were leaders of some particular caste or party, find their way to the other side of the coins. The recent examples are many ( St.Tukaram, Veer Durgadass, St.Dnyaneswar, Dr.Shyamaprasad Mukherji, Kamaraj, Mahatma Basaweshara etc..). I didn't even hear about these persons until the coins were minted. There is no scarcity of better personalities or themes or other such things in India. The latest addition of these coins is the coins of Narayana Guru. Narayanan was a social reformer and is the spiritual leader of Ezhava cast in the state of Kerala. Now, the coin says 'Jagadguru Sree Narayana Gurudev' means 'God Mr. Narayana, the teacher of the universe'. Actually, Narayanan died in the 1930s. So, after about 75 years, he was made a God by the Government of India. Already some dispute arose because of this, as some other sects take some other guy as the 'teacher of universe'.
This is my opinion only...

 

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Jagat guru doesn't mean god it merely means great teacher. also people like tukaram, Dr.Shyamaprasad Mukherji, Kamaraj, Mahatma Basaweshara are renowned Indian personalities. I don't think its right to call someone a lesser personality just merely because one does not know of them. if you don't like the coins don't buy them. IMO people just create controversies instead of enjoying the artwork of the coins.

 

I didn't mean in that sense... I just thought may be some better personalities should have find a place. Do you think, there are no superior personalities there? And as you said 'jagath guru' means 'great teacher'. Its wrong.. 'Jagath' means 'universe' and 'guru' means 'teacher'... Now, 'dev' in 'gurudev' means 'God'.. And please dont think that I was in anyway down-grading these great personalities. But, I still feel let down by the Government of India.. What about Rajendra Prasad, Dr.Radhakrishnan, Morarji Desai, Mother Theresa, Gokhale, Tilak, Bhagath Singh, Kalidasa, Tulsidas, Kabirdas etc... I'm afraid, Tukaram, Dr.Shyamaprasad Mukherji, Kamaraj and Mahatma Basaweshwara found their place in coins as part of some regional bias or trying to appease a particular section of society. I might be wrong.. Its my opinion only..

 

I grant that there are many people who did not get coins or got coins late eg bose but the people who got coins deserve them if they got it coz of a political problem then thats a shame. who is great nd who is not depends on the perspective that one has but al the peopel you mentioned have got stamps in their honor. gurudev is one word not 2 separate words guru and dev and the word gurudev means respected teacher not god you can confirm that in a dictionary if you like. The word dev also has many meanings such as god, master, sir etc. i am sure you have heard of kapil dev and you dont think him to be kapil god. or dev anand.

My whole point is try and enjoy the coins that are being made for what they are rather than worry about those that were not issued and if you learn something about india that you did not know before then the coin has done its job.

 

In my opinion, considering Indian history, where the country was never really united until the British came over, it is very difficult to acknowledge a large number of pre-Independence personalities.
Living in Maharashtra (for some time), I know quite well the importance of Sant Tukaram (great 17th century Marathi religious poet) and Sant Dyaneshwar (first person to make the Gita understandable to local masses - in marathi. Huge following in the region, every year over 1 million poeple 'Warkaris' make the pilligrimage from Alandi to Pandharpur for Ashadi ekdashi, and are basically his followers). In the same way I am sure there were major personalities in other areas of India (Like recent coins for Maharana Pratap, etc)... They all deserve recognition, and maybe this is a way to expose regional personalities to the rest of the country. yes, there may be a slight bias (due to Parliment? or the location of the Mints?)... but hopefully over time it will all even out.
I do agree with one thing though, considering that the govenment of India is issuing the coins, they should issue coins in the memory of those who led to the creation of India or who lived in independent India. And a little more emphasis on history/achivements itself, less on individuals...
And most of all, deliver coins before you even forgot that you bought them! 10 months was my wait time for the only order I have ever placed!

 

The political rights and wrongs of coin design selection belongs in the PRWE forum whether it relates to US politics or the politics of some other country.