₨500 — Five Hundred Rupees
The artwork
Front: King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev at left, in military tunic and spectacles beneath the plumed Nepalese royal crown. The centre panel carries the bank's name in Devanagari, the line declaring the note guaranteed by His Majesty's Government, and the value as रूपयाँ पाँच शय. Behind it a Himalayan peak rises over tiered temple roofs, with a seated crowned goddess figure below and the Governor's signature over his printed title.
Back: Two tigers at the water's edge, one stooping to drink, worked in fine engraved line across the centre with रूपयाँ पाँच शय above and RUPEES FIVE HUNDRED on the band below. Top right sits the old royal coat of arms — crossed khukuris, Pashupati footprints, sun and moon, flanking Gurkha soldiers. A temple-strut border frames the left, with the bank's roundel seal and 500 in numerals at each end.
In circulation
A Birendra-era design, current through the 1980s and 1990s and into the early 2000s. After the 2001 palace killings the 500 was reissued with King Gyanendra's portrait; the monarchy's abolition in 2008 removed royal portraits altogether, the king's head giving way to Mount Everest on Nepal Rastra Bank's later notes.
Details
- Issuerश्री नेपाल राष्ट्र बैंक — Nepal Rastra Bank, the note declared guaranteed by His Majesty's Government
- CurrencyRupee (₨)
- DenominationFive Hundred Rupees
- Collectedon the Nepal journeys, 1993–2014
- SeriesKing Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, crowned and in uniform
- SignatureA single signature over the printed title गभर्नर (Governor)
- WatermarkPlumed royal crown, in the blank guilloche panel at right