Stories
The Fascinating History Behind Gandhi Smile on Indian Currency Notes
- •The smiling face of Mahatma Gandhi on currency notes is not a painting, but an actual photograph taken in 1946 outside the Viceroy House in Delhi.
- •The original 1946 photograph featured Gandhi alongside British politician Lord Frederick William Pethick-Lawrence.
- •The Reserve Bank of India chose Gandhi face in the 1990s because human faces are much harder to counterfeit than monuments or animals.
- •In 1996, the RBI officially introduced the Mahatma Gandhi series, featuring the iconic smiling photograph across all currency denominations.
Key Questions Answered
The original photograph was taken in 1946 outside the Viceroy's House, which is currently known as Rashtrapati Bhavan, in Delhi. In the photograph, Mahatma Gandhi was standing alongside the British politician Lord Frederick William Pethick-Lawrence.
In the 1990s, the Reserve Bank of India realized that human faces were much harder to counterfeit than monuments or animals. They wanted a universally accepted, uncontroversial figure whose familiar features and calm smile would unite the country's diverse population and help easily distinguish real notes from fake ones.
Mahatma Gandhi's image first appeared on a special commemorative Rs. 100 note in 1969 to mark his 100th birth anniversary. Later, his smiling portrait made its debut on a regular circulation banknote with the release of the Rs. 500 note in October 1987.
