Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi who is fondly referred to in India as Father of Nation or Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2 and hence every year Gandhi Jayanti is celebrated the world over on this day. As is known he was one of the big leaders from Congress who fought for Freedom Struggle and made some crucial decisions as a representative of the Indians at large.
Even today he continues to be one of the revered and respected personalities in the country and one of the greatest examples is his cutout on Indian currency. Many believe that Gandhi has been on the currency since independence since we are now so accustomed to seeing him on it. But it is not so.
When did Gandhiji become a permanent feature of Indian currency?
Since he was the biggest Indian leader during the pre-independence era, he has been photographed by many renowned photographers of those times including Margaret Bourke-White, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Max Desfor. Many of his photographs can be found in Indian Government offices, schools, and other public places. But what has always stayed with the Indians is his portrait on the official currency note of India.
However, it was not in 1947 but decades later in 1996 that this portrait of Mahatma Gandhi became a permanent feature on the banknotes of Indian denominations issued by the Reserve Bank of India. This portrait that is now visible on the banknotes is not a caricature but a cut-out of a photograph that was taken sometime during 1946. In this particular photograph, he can be seen standing along with then-British politician Lord Fredrick William Pethick-Lawrence.
The photograph was chosen because it has Gandhiji smiling and giving the most suitable expressions and the portrait is the exact mirror image of this cut-out. Unfortunately, the person who photographed this picture or the one who selected this cut-out for the currency is not known.
It should be noted however that while Gandhiji's cut-out became a permanent feature in Indian currency in 1996 his picture kept on appearing in the Indian currency occasionally even before that. For example, he was featured for the first time in the Indian denomination in 1969 which marked his 100th birth anniversary. The picture had Gandhiji with Sevagram as the backdrop.
Even in October 1987, Mahatma Gandhi’s portrait was used on a few series of Rs 500 notes.