The Arched-hill symbol on ancient Coinage of India

 

The Arched-hill symbol is a symbol on ancient Coinage of India. There are some variations to the number of hills depicted, or the symbol surmounting the hill, such as a crescent or a star.

                                           

        Sunga Period coin, with three-arched symbol

  

                          The three-arched symbol

It is believed that the three -arched hill symbol was initiated in the 3rd to 2nd century BCE by the Maurya Empire.

                                               

Maurya punchmarked karshapana, weight 3.5 g

Obverse: standing Shiva with crested hair holding Danda and kamandalu, sun, six-armed symbol, three-arched hill with crescent on top, 'bale mark'

Reverse: Bale-mark

 Later in the coins from Taxila from 220 BCE, the three arched symbol appears regularly and from 185 BCE is regularly associated with the animal figures of the elephant and the lion.

                                               

Taxila, copper 1/4 Karshapana, weight 2.2 g

Obverse: Three-arched hill (chaitya), crescent above, Brahma legend

Reverse: Three-arched hill, crescent above

                            

                                               

Post Mauryan, Taxila, 185-168 BC, One and half Karshapana, weight 10.6 g

Obverse: Lion standing left, swastika above, three-arched hill surmounted by crescent, all within square incused

Reverse: Elephant right, three-arched hill with crescent

                

It has also been believed to be the imperial symbol of the Mauryas, though it appears in many post-Mauryan coins of Taxila and the Shungas.

                                              

Rudradaman, silver, drachm, 130-160 BC,

Obverse: Head of king right, Greek legend around

Reverse: Three-arched hill, river below, crescent moon and sun above, Brahmi legend around

                                         

Sunga Period, cast copper, weight 2.8 g

Obverse: Tree in railing

Reverse: Three-arched hill with a crescent above

The symbol is considered a representation of the "Buddhist Chaitya" or a "Meru". 

                                           

Development of the Chaitya Arch from Lomas Rishi Caves

                                           

Chaitya Arch around the window at Cave 9, Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra, India

 

Chaitya. means "heaped up" and is a Sanskrit word for a mound or pedestal or 'funeral pile'. It is a sacred construction of some sort and has acquired a different and specific meaning in different regions. Early chaityas enshrined a stupa with space for worship by monks.

                                           

  

In Buddhism it refers to a space with a stupa and a rounded apse at the end opposite the entrance and a high roof with a rounded profile. Outside India, the term is used by Buddhists for local styles of small stupa like monuments in Nepal, Cambodia, Indonesia and other countries. In historic texts of Jainism and Hinduism, including those related to architecture, Chaitya refers to a temple, sanctuary or any sacred monument.  

                                                   

                        The Chaitya at Cave 19, Ajanta Caves.

                                                     

The Chaitya Cave 26  at Ajanta: stupa incorporates a large Buddha statue

 

Meru. Mount Meru is also recognized as Sumeru, Sineru or Mahameru, the sacred five peak mountain of Hindu, Jain and Buddhist cosmology and is considered to be the center of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes. Meru is also the central bead in a "mala". Mount Meru is known in Burma, China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and several other countries.

                                               

                       The cosmic tortoise, and Mount Meru  

                                              

The five central towers at Angor Wat, a Buddhist temple in Siem Reap, Cambodia, symbolize the peaks of Mount Meru

                                                 

      

Hsinbyume Pagoda in Mandalay, Myanmar, representing Mount Sumeru

In Hinduism, Mount Meru is described as 84,000 yojanas high, about 1,082,000 km, which is 85 times the earth's diameter. The sun along with all other planets in the solar system revolve around Mt Meru as one unit. The Matsaya Purana and the Bhagvata Purana, Vishnu Purana along with some other texts, consistently give the height of 84,000 yojanas to Mount Meru and it is said to be the residence of Brahma.

Three-arched hill symbol on some other coins

                                             

Taxila, Pushkalavati, 2nd century BC, 1/4 Karshapana, weight 2.0 g

Obverse: Chaitya or crescent three-arched hill, taurine at right

Reverse: Chaitya or three-arched hill, taurine at right

                                           

Ancient Deccan, biface, cast copper, weight 14.3 gm

Obverse: Three-arched hill surmounted by crescent

Reverse: Open Cross symbol

 

                                               

Rudrasena III, date 282, lead, weight 3.7 gm

Obverse: Bull facing right

Reverse Three-arched hill, complete date 282

                                             

Taxila, Pushkalavati, 2nd century BC, weight 11.8 g

Obverse: Elephant advancing right

Reverse: Lion standing left, with three- arched hill to left and swastika above

There were variants to the three-arched hill symbol, such as the 'six-arched hill' and the 'eight-arched hill' symbols on coins.

                                             

  

                       

 Silver drachm, Kuninda kingdom, 200 BC-100 AD, weight 2.2 g

Obverse, Deer standing right, symbol behind deer's horn, crowned by two cobras above the horn, Goddess Lakshmi standing holding a long-stemmed lotus, three arched hills between deer's legs with brahmi legend Rajnah Kunindasya Amoghabhutisya Maharasya

Reverse, six arched hills with nandipada above, swastika with split standard at left, a tree in railing at right, wavy lines representing a flowing river below the stupa and kharoshthi legend around.

                                           

Anandas of Karwar, Chutukulanandas, lead, weight 13.1 g

Obverse: Eight arched hill, river below, Brahmi legend, rajo/ chutukulanamdasa

Reverse: tree in railing to left nandipara 

                               

A six-arched hill symbol is also the 'coat of arms' of Pope John Paul I, and fairly common in other 'coats of arms' in Italy.

                                             

A six-arched hill symbol is also the 'coat of arms' of Pope John Paul I,

Three-arched symbol on coins