Does Indonesian 20,000 Rupiah note still feature Lord Ganesha's image?

Hyderabad: A photo of an Indonesian 20,000 Rupiah (Rp) banknote featuring Lord Ganesha is being widely circulated on social media.

Netizens started sharing the image after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, during a press conference on 26 October, appealed to the Union government to print images of Hindu deities Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi in fresh currency notes so that their blessings can help the country's economy. He also claimed that Indonesia, where the Hindu population is about 2%, has banknotes featuring Lord Ganesha.

Mr. Kejriwal's claim can be heard in this video at around the 4.32-minute time mark.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA and national spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj shared a photo of the Indonesian currency note with Lord Ganesha's image and wrote, "It has been proved that Muslim brothers have no problem with the image of Hindu God on the note but BJP leaders do have. Indonesia, a Muslim country, with 85% Muslim population and 2% Hindu population, has a currency featuring Lord Ganesh's picture." (Translated)

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Fact Check

NewsMeter ran a keyword search and found, on the website Numista, that the Indonesian currency of denomination Rp20,000 issued in 1998 did feature a picture of Lord Ganesha along with the image of national hero Ki Hajar Dewantara—Indonesian Independence activist and former education minister. The other side of the note has an image of children in a classroom.

According to a press release issued by Bank Indonesia on 26 November 2008, the Rp20,000 banknote along with three other banknotes was demonetised in 2008. The press release also stated, "Bank Indonesia regularly revokes and withdraws Rupiah banknotes by taking into consideration the period of circulation and security features development on the money."

The demonetised notes were allowed to be exchanged for newer, valid tender with additional security features until 31 December 2018.

The current Indonesian Rp20,000 note issued in 2022 features the first Governor of Sulawesi Sam Ratalungi.

It is evident that the Indonesian currency note featuring Lord Ganesha was taken out of circulation in 2008. Hence, the claim that the Indonesian banknote currently features the image of Lord Ganesha is misleading.