Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal recently made a request to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to print the images of Lord Ganesh and Goddess Lakshmi along with Mahatma Gandhi on Indian currency notes. In this context, several social media users shared an image of an Indonesian currency note of denomination 20,000 Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) with an image of Lord Ganesha, claiming that it was currently in circulation in Indonesia. However, is this claim true?

Indonesian Currency Note with Lord Ganesha Image: False Claim

To verify the claim, we looked for information on the Indonesian currency notes and found that the 20,000 Rupiah (IDR) note with the image of Lord Ganesha did exist in the past. According to Numista, an online platform for coin and banknote collectors, the note was issued in 1998 and featured the image of Indonesian Independence Activist and former Education Minister Ki Hadjar Dewantara on one side, and Lord Ganesha on the other side along with the image of children in a classroom.

However, according to a working paper by Bank Indonesia, the note was withdrawn in 2008 along with three other banknotes as part of regular upgrades in security features. The government had set a deadline of December 31, 2018, to exchange these notes with new ones. In a press release on December 3, 2018, Bank Indonesia reminded people to exchange these withdrawn notes before the deadline. The current Indonesian currency notes in circulation can be found on various websites and do not feature the image of Lord Ganesha.

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Conclusion

In conclusion, the claim that the Indonesian currency note of denomination 20,000 IDR carries the image of Lord Ganesha is false. Although the note did exist in the past, it was withdrawn in 2008 as part of the regular security upgrades of the currency notes. Therefore, the claim that the image of Lord Ganesha is currently on the Indonesian currency note is misleading.