2023 - Saint Meera Bai | Commemorative Coin

The 15th commemorative coin for the year 2023 was released to mark the 525th Birth Anniversary of Saint Meera Bai. This marks the first issuance of a ₹525 coin denomination in the history of Republic India Coinage.

Meera, better known as Mirabai and venerated as Sant Meerabai, was a 16th-century Hindu mystic poet and devotee of Krishna. She remains a celebrated Bhakti saint, particularly in the North Indian Hindu tradition.

Mirabai was born into a Rathore Rajput royal family in Kudki (modern-day Pali district of Rajasthan) and spent her childhood in Merta. She is mentioned in Bhaktamal, confirming that she was widely known and cherished in the Bhakti movement by about 1600 CE.

Most legends about Mirabai highlight her fearless disregard for social and family conventions, her unwavering devotion to Krishna, her perception of Krishna as her husband, and her persecution by her in-laws due to her religious devotion. She has been the subject of numerous folk tales and hagiographic legends, which vary widely in details and consistency.

While millions of devotional hymns praising Krishna are attributed to Meerabai in the Indian tradition, scholars believe only a few hundred are authentic, and the earliest written records suggest that, except for two hymns, most were first documented in the 18th century.

Many poems attributed to Meera were likely composed later by others who admired her. These hymns, a type of bhajan, are widely famous across India.

Some Hindu temples, including Chittor Fort, are dedicated to Mirabai's memory. Legends about Mirabai's life, though of contested authenticity, have been adapted into movies, films, comic strips, and other popular literature in modern times.

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