10 Rupees 1944, British Ceylon
| in Krause book | Number: 36a |
| Years of issue: | 12.07.1944 |
| Edition: | J/16 672001 - J/26 639000 - 9 967 000 |
| Signatures: | Commissioners of currency: H. J. Huxham & C. H. Collins |
| Serie: | 1941 Second issue |
| Specimen of: | 20.12.1941 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 152 х 102 |
| Printer: | Issue Department of the Bank of India |
* All pictures marked 
are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.
** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.
Description
Watermark:
The Sri Lanka (Sinhalese) Lion (Panthera leo sinhaleyus) with whip (?). It is still unknown, if it is a whip or not!
Though, also known as the Ceylon Lion, was a prehistoric subspecies of lion, endemic to Sri Lanka. It appears to have become extinct prior to the arrival of culturally modern humans, c. 37,000 years BC.
This lion is only known from two teeth found in deposits at Kuruwita. Based on these teeth, P. Deraniyagala erected this subspecies in 1939. However, there is insufficient information to determine how it might differ from other subspecies of lion. Deraniyagala did not explain explicitly how he diagnosed the holotype of this subspecies as belonging to a lion, though he justified its allocation to a distinct subspecies of lion by its being "narrower and more elongate" than those of recent lions in the British Natural History Museum collection.
About Lankatilaka Raja Maha Viharaya - please read obverse description!
Avers:
HM The King George VI.
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George, 14 December 1895 - 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death. He was the last Emperor of India and the first Head of the Commonwealth.
This engraving is done from the portrait by photographer Dorothy Wilding, made in 1937, after the Coronation Day of His Majesty. The original portrait is now in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
In top right corner is - presumably - the Stupa in Lankatilaka Raja Maha Viharaya.
Lankatilaka Vihara (Sinhalese: ලංකාතිලක විහාරය) is an ancient Buddhist temple situated in Udunuwara of Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is located on Daulagala road, approximately 4 km. (2.5 mi.) away from Pilimatalawa junction and a few kilometers from the ancient buddhist temple, Gadaladeniya Vihara. It is considered as the most magnificent architectural edifice created during the Gampola era.
The history of the temple goes back to the 14th century. According to historical reports this temple was built by King Bhuvanekabahu IV, who reigned from 1341 to 1351 A. D. He entrusted the construction of this temple to his Chief Minister named Senalankadhikara, who successfully finished the works of this temple. The architecture of the temple was designed by a South Indian architect named Sathapati Rayar. According to the Professor Senarath Paranavithana, Sathapati Rayar designed this temple using Sinhalese architecture of Polonnaruwa era and also with other Dravidian and Indo Chinese architectural patterns.
The vihara buildings have been built on a natural rock, called "Panhalgala Rock". Among the buildings the image house possess characteristically outstanding architectural features, embellished with traditional Sinhalese sculptures. According the facts recorded in the Lankatilake copper plaque, this image house was construct as a four storied mansion with height of eighty feet, but today only 3 stories can be seen. The walls and the ceiling of the image house has been adorned with the Kandyan era paintings and sculptures.
Rock curved inscriptions found in the temple premises with both Sinhala and Tamil sections, proclaim about the initiators and the facilities gifted to this temple by the kings.
The image house of the Lankatilaka is enriched with five devales. God Upulvan, Ganapathi, Saman, Vibhishana and Kumara Bandara are worshipped here. God Kumara bandara is believed to be the deity, who protect the Lankatilaka vihara.
In top left corner - presumably - the arch with dragon, which is located above the statue of Budda in Lankatilaka Vihara. The same arch is above the entrance to Lankatilaka Vihara.
In the main building, from the central entrance, you can see a statue of a meditating Buddha under the arch with a dragon, the walls and ceiling are decorated with paintings telling about 24 Buddha's life and frescoes from the time of the Kandian period. At the entrance to the temple there is a moonstone and two balustrades leading into the archway. In the central part of the temple complex the honorable place is occupied by Stupa and Bo tree, next to the temple of Vihara Ge and the Great Buddha's trail. Also on the territory of Lankatilaka Raja Maha Viharaya, stone letters in Sinhalese and Tamil languages are found on the rock, occupying a large area, prayer rooms and even a dance hall with a wooden roof resting on stone pillars located behind the main building.
Lankatilaka Raja Maha Viharaya is a prime example of medieval architectural art, during the celebration of Esala Peraher, the territory of this temple is the second most important place in Sri Lanka after Kandy.
The value "රුපියල් දහයයි" in Sinhalese language is on left (top) side and in Tamil on right (lower) side.
Denominations in numerals are in top corners, in words centered.
Revers:
On banknote is The Temple of the Tooth (Sri Dalada Maligawa) - more concrete - Patthirippua (Octagonal prison tower, built in 1803).
In front of it are 5 Ceylonese depicted, on background is the forest.
Sri Dalada Maligawa or the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is a Buddhist temple in the city of Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is located in the royal palace complex of the former Kingdom of Kandy, which houses the relic of the tooth of the Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country. Kandy was the last capital of the Sri Lankan kings and is a World Heritage Site mainly due to the temple.
Bhikkhus of the two chapters of Malwatte and Asgiriya conduct daily worship in the inner chamber of the temple. Rituals are performed three times daily: at dawn, at noon and in the evenings. On Wednesdays there is a symbolic bathing of the relic with an herbal preparation made from scented water and fragrant flowers called Nanumura Mangallaya. This holy water is believed to contain healing powers and is distributed among those present.
The temple sustained damage from bombings by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 1998 but was fully restored each time.
After the parinirvana of Gautama Buddha, the tooth relic was preserved in Kalinga and smuggled to the island by Princess Hemamali and her husband, Prince Dantha on the instructions of her father King Guhasiva. They landed in the island in Lankapattana during the reign of Sirimeghavanna of Anuradhapura (301-328) and handed over the tooth relic. The king enshrined it Meghagiri Vihara (present day Isurumuniya) in Anuradhapura. Safeguard of the relic was a responsibility of the monarch, therefore over the years the custodianship of relic became to symbolize the right to rule. Therefore, reigning monarchs built the tooth relic temples quite close to their royal residences, as was the case during the times of the Anuradhapura Kingdom, Kingdom of Polonnaruwa, and Kingdom of Dambadeniya. During the era of the Kingdom of Gampola, the relic was housed in Niyamgampaya Vihara. It is reported in the messenger poems such as Hamsa, Gira, and Selalihini that the temple of tooth relic was situated within the city of Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte when the Kingdom of Kotte was established there.
During the reign of Dharmapala of Kotte, the relic was kept hidden in Delgamuwa Vihara, Ratnapura, in a grinding stone. It was brought to Kandy by Hiripitiye Diyawadana Rala and Devanagala Rathnalankara Thera. King Vimaladharmasuriya I built a two-storey building to deposit the tooth relic and the building is now gone. In 1603 when the Portuguese invaded Kandy, it was carried to Meda Mahanuwara in Dumbara. It was recovered in the time of Rajasinha II and it has been reported that he reinstate the original building or has built a new temple. The present day temple of the tooth was built by Vira Narendra Sinha. The octagonal Patthirippuwa and moat was added during the reign of Sri Vikrama Rajasinha. Famous Kandyan architect Devandra Mulacharin is credited with building the Patthirippuwa. Originally it was used by the kings for recreational activities and later it was offered to the tooth relic. Now it is a library. It was attacked on two occasions, the 1998 Temple of the Tooth attack by the militant organization Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the 1989 Temple of the Tooth attack by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna.
Outwardly, the buildings of the Temple of the Tooth are unremarkable and even modest. The interior decoration of the rooms impresses visitors with luxury, precious decoration, inlaid with silver, rubies, emeralds and ivory. Thousands of figurines depicting the Buddha look at you from every corner of the numerous rooms resembling the Kremlin Golden Chambers. Vintage fanciful frescoes decorate the ceilings.
Every day and year-round foreigners and local religious pilgrims are admitted to the temple. But none of them can see the unique "tooth".
Only once a year there are organized many-day grandiose ritual processions - the festival of Esala Perahera, with fakirs and musicians, dancers and torches. Then, on the largest temple elephant, decorated with silver and precious stones, a sacred relic is taken out in a golden casket. Thousands of thousands of Buddhists and curious travelers flood Kandy these days.
To date, the temple complex includes the royal palace-residence, as well as a gloomy prison tower, built in 1803. All these buildings tourists can inspect, joining the tour group.
Another interesting architectural object is the throne room of the palace of the kings of Kandy, where all the "furniture" is one huge rock, which was processed by Ceylon sculptors. 
Along the lower margin of banknote is micro-print - "THE GOVERNMENT OF CEYLON".
, Colombo_1952.jpg)
On the banknote is a stamp (similar to the stamp of the post office), dated November 24, 1945. The stamp was staged in Pettah (the neighborhood of Colombo, the capital of Ceylon).
I wrote to Sri Lanka, to Dilminidu Samarasekara (collector and banknote dealer from Sri Lanka) with such question - For what purpose these stamps were put on banknotes (this is a fairly common phenomenon)?.
Here is, what he answered to me:
"Hi,
Thanks for contacting me.
This type of postal stamps were placed by the post offices when these notes were released to money orders. During that time, there had been a rule that when banknotes are released to a person from the post office from a money order, they place a stamp.
Prior to 1935 or so, there was another interesting rule. This is regarding very high value notes like 50 Rs. & 100 Rs. when such a note was given to a person, it was mandatory that the receiver get the signature of the previous owner on the back of the note. See the attached notes
So, when you see hand signatures on the back of high value notes of government of ceylon series, I think you should not consider them as graffiti."
Pettah is a neighborhood in Colombo, Sri Lanka located east of the City center Fort. The Pettah neighborhood is famous for the Pettah Market, a series of open air bazaars and markets. It is Sri Lanka's most busiest commercial area, where most of the shops, textiles, buildings and many other business organizations are centered.
The name is derived from the Tamil word, Pettai, an Anglo-Indian word used to indicate a suburb outside a fort. Today, the Sinhalese phrase, pita-kotuwa (outside the fort) conveniently describes the same place.
Pettah is a multi-religious and multi-ethnic area. Moors and Memons are the predominant ethnic group found within Pettah, however an average amount of Sinhalese and Tamil populations also exist. There are also various other minorities such as Burghers, Malays and others. Religions include Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and various other religions and beliefs to a lesser extent.
Notable landmarks in the neighborhood include Wolvendaal Church, the Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque, Kayman's Gate, the old Colombo Town Hall, the Colombo Dutch Museum and the Khan Clock Tower, which was built by the Khan family of Bombay (now known as the city of Mumbai) in India.
Denomination in Sinhalese language "රුපියල් දහයයි" is in lower left corner and in Tamil language in lower right corner.
Denominations in numerals are in top corners.
Comments:
There are only 1 variety: with straight edge. These banknotes were not issued in booklets.
The paper manufactured by "Messrs Portals Ltd".
The notes were demonetized with all notes dated before 1950 December 31st on 1955 August 26th and ceased to be legal tender with effect 1956 August 31st.
If you find my work useful I will be grateful for any help in supporting the site.
-
PayPal
-
For users of European Union banking system