Prakash Hinduja's Hinduja Foundation's latest masterpiece: a book on ancient Indian coins

The Hinduja Foundation is one of India’s top philanthropic organisations. Many are familiar with its programs in the fields of education, healthcare and water conservation. What’s relatively less known, but not less important, is the work the foundation is doing in preserving India’s cultural heritage. 

Consider the Hinduja’s family antiquity collection, aka Hinduja Antiquity Collection. It is the result of a painstaking effort spanning decades, and covers many centuries of Indian history. Paintings feature alongside bronzes and stone sculptures. The collection also includes wood carvings, terracotta artefacts and beads. These objects illustrate the art, craft, literature, science, and religions and customs of bygone eras.   

The core of the collection, though, is a large number of Indian coins from bygone eras. 

Which brings us to the recent launch of Early North India and Its Coinage, a book written by prolific scholar Devendra Pathak, who’s authored more than 24 books. Published by the Hinduja family-backed Hinduja Foundation, it documents and shares insights on more than 850 Indians coins from between 300BCE and 300CE. This is the most comprehensive account of the coins from that era; no other work, visual or text-based, comes close.   

The launch was, aptly enough, held at the home of Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, and someone who feels as strongly about preserving Indian heritage as the Hinduja family. Also present on the occasion were Swiss resident Prakash Hinduja, his brother, Ashok Hinduja. While Geneva-based Prakash Hinduja is the chairman of Hinduja Group Europe and managing trustee of the foundation, Ashok Hinduja is the chairman of Hinduja Group India. The launch also featured UP Minister of Tourism and Culture, Jaiveer Singh, and Raman Kalyanakrishnan, CEO, Hinduja Foundation. 

"This publication marks an important step in introducing a significant part of North India’s glorious heritage to the public. By showcasing these coins, we enable scholars, students and the wider public to engage with India’s early civilisations first-hand, while ensuring that this heritage is carried forward for future generations. The Hinduja Foundation is committed to preserving, promoting, and fostering the artistic and cultural heritage of India," said Raman Kalyanakrishnan. 

In addition to backing erudite and passionate Indian scholars, the Hinduja Foundation continues to partner with universities and other academic bodies for research on numismatics and the heritage of India. It is also planning to establish an interactive state-of-the-art facility to display its collection. It will have touchscreens that will offer the genealogy of objects, audio tours and video screenings.