Dear Charles,

A couple of years ago while looking along the foreshore of Sydney Harbour at low tide, I found similar tokens plus images of Ganesh and Lakshmi (attached). The park bordering the harbour here is used for weddings because of the wonderful backdrop of the Opera House, etc. and there is a healthy South Asian community in Sydney. A couple of years ago the Bhagavadgītā was used by a State parliamentarian in Sydney for his swearing in ceremony for the first time, while the Opera House was lit up the same year for Holi. As the only lecturer in Sanskrit in the State at that time, I thought it was pretty amazing that I should stumble across them.

I took the tokens/coins to be the Sri Budh Yantra. If that is correct, then Budh (Mercury) apparently covers communication skills, IQ, education, and much more, so I though they may have been cast there by students before exams, or the like, rather than associated with a wedding. Of course, the tokens and images may be unrelated.

Best wishes

Mark

Dr Mark Allon

Chair, Dept. of Indian Subcontinental Studies

The University of Sydney

Australia

From: INDOLOGY <indology-bounces@list.indology.info> On Behalf Of Charles DiSimone via INDOLOGY
Sent: Wednesday, 13 May 2020 9:31 PM
To: Indology <indology@list.indology.info>
Subject: [INDOLOGY] Lead cubes with Indic numeration found in Thames River

Dear friends,

Is anybody familiar with the lead cubes in the attached picture? These were intriguingly found in the Thames River recently. The story from a local periodical is here: 

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/mystery-60-peculiar-cubes-inscriptions-18232422

I imagine these were deposited in the river rather recently, but maybe someone knows more. I’m curious what the ritual surrounding depositing such items in a body of water might be. 

All my best,

Charles

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Dr. Charles DiSimone

Ghent University