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Gandhi's Photo on Rupee Notes: Unraveling the 80-Year-Old Mystery! Who Took It?
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News18•03-10-2026, 15:24
Gandhi's Photo on Rupee Notes: Unraveling the 80-Year-Old Mystery! Who Took It?
- •The Mahatma Gandhi portrait on Indian rupee notes is derived from an original 1946 photograph, not a painting.
- •The original 1946 photograph features Gandhi alongside then-British politician Lord Frederick William Pethick-Lawrence.
- •This photograph was taken on April 18, 1946, at the then Viceroy's House (now Rashtrapati Bhavan) after a meeting between Gandhi and Pethick-Lawrence.
- •The actual photographer remains unconfirmed; there is no strong evidence to attribute it to Margaret Bourke-White.
- •Gandhi's image first appeared on special commemorative notes in 1969 for his birth centenary, becoming widely used from the 1996 "Mahatma Gandhi Series" onwards.
Key Questions Answered
The original photograph behind Mahatma Gandhi's portrait on currency notes was taken on April 18, 1946, at the Viceroy's House in Delhi, which is now Rashtrapati Bhavan.
In the original 1946 photograph taken after a meeting, British politician and Cabinet Mission member Lord Frederick William Pethick-Lawrence was standing right next to Gandhiji.
Mahatma Gandhi's image first appeared on a regular circulating currency note in October 1987, when the Reserve Bank of India introduced the 500 rupee note.
