Read your Rupee: Persian Calligraphy Workshop

Long before banknotes and digital screens, the rupee carried its stories in strokes of inkless poetry. As the medieval world shifted away from pictorial symbols, coins became canvases, engraved with abstract geometry and the flowing grace of Persian and Arabic calligraphy. Under the Mughals, this transformation blossomed; by Aurangzeb’s reign, couplets weren’t just decoration but a defining feature of coin design. Each rupee held a verse, a voice, a fragment of empire.

As part of this journey, we invite you to explore the exhibition’s coins with their intricate inscriptions - then dive deeper at a hands-on workshop. Led by Mehmood Ahmed Shaikh, a dedicated calligraphy teacher from Mumbai whose classes have helped revive the ancient art of khattati.

Join us to read your rupee - decipher its calligraphy, appreciate its poetic lineage, and try your hand at Persian calligraphy under expert guidance.

This workshop will be facilitated at Sarmaya Arts Foundation in tandem with our new exhibition Odyssey of the Rupee: From India to the World.

Marking 75 years of the Indian Rupee, Odyssey of the Rupee is Sarmaya’s most ambitious exhibition yet. Curated by Dr Shailendra Bhandare of the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, with Sarmaya Arts Foundation, the showcase spans centuries of currency, from ancient punch-marked coins to the first coin minted in Independent India. The exhibition also explores how the rupee travelled beyond borders, featuring beautiful and rare coins and notes from regions like Mozambique, Java, and Saudi Arabia.

There will be a walkthrough of the exhibition at Sarmaya Arts Foundation followed by the workshop.

Meeting Point: Sarmaya Arts Foundation, 2nd floor, 276, Lawrence & Mayo Commercial Premises Society Ltd., Dr D.N. Road, Fort, Mumbai 400001.