Sunday Special--Kaudi/Cowrie

June 10, 2018

Kaudi(Caurie)

Kaudi ( Punjabi)Cowry or cowrie, plural cowries, is the common name for a group of small to large sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries. The word cowry is also often used to refer only to the shells of these snails, which overall are often shaped more or less like an egg, except that they are rather flat on the underside.

The word cowrie comes from Indian कौडि (kaudi), कवडी (kavadī) or ಕವಡೆ (kavade) and ultimately from Sanskrit कपर्द (kaparda) กปรฺท.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P2N542_Bno

MONEY COWRIE SNAIL (19 FEB 2011) /45

www.youtube.com

The money cowrie snail is a great algae eater. This snail will eat all your unwanted algae from the glass and wall.

Monetaria moneta,the money cowry, is a species of small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.
This species is called "money cowry" because the shells were historically widely used in many Pacific and Indian Ocean countries as shell money before coinage was in common usage.
The term porcelain derives from the old Italian term for the cowrie shell (porcellana) due to their similar translucent appearance. Shells of certain species have historically been used as currency in several parts of the world,
The cowry was the shell most widely used worldwide as shell money. It is most abundant in the Indian Ocean, and was collected in the Maldive Islands, in Sri Lanka, along the Malabar coast, in Borneo and on other East Indian islands, and in various parts of the African coast from Ras Hafun to Mozambique. Cowry shell money was important in the trade networks of Africa, South Asia, and East Asia

A print from 1845 shows cowry shells being used as money by an Arab trader.
Phooti kaudi

Literally means broken coin
.(नगण्य या नाम मात्र का धन)
Widely used term in Bollywood and North India to indicate a state of extreme penury /Nothingness/ worthlessness.
Widely used dialogue in Hindi cinema:
Rich dad : Aaj se tumhe Ek phooti kaudi nahin dunga. (Hence forth,you get nada from me)

Tere ko kaani kaudi bhi nahi doonga

कानी कौड़ी मतलब
(ऐसी कौड़ी जिसके बीच में माला पिरोने के लिए छेद किया गया हो) It's Value is Less than a Kaudi

Kaudi di akal ni tainu

Teri 2 kaudi di Naukri
Kaudi mull ni reha sohne Punjab da

1 Cowrie Kaudi

Features

Country	India (ancient)
Type	Common coin
Years	1000-1825
Value	1 Cowrie (1/2560)
Metal	Sea Shell
Weight	2 g
Diameter	20 mm
Shape	Shell
Demonetized	yes

Cowrie (Kaudi) was used as circulation currency in Ancient India and as late as 19th century in Eastern parts of India Mainly Bengal and Orissa (Odisha). The reason that copper coins were used very less in this part of India was because of the popularity of Cowries as currency which as of 1821 was equivalent to 1 Rupee = 2560 Cowries

Cowry shells are sometimes used in a way similar to dice, e.g., in board games like Pachisi, Ashta Chamma or in divination (cf. Ifá and the annual customs of Dahomey of Benin). A number of shells (6 or 7 in Pachisi) are thrown, with those landing aperture upwards indicating the actual number rolled

Siddhi over any kind of Kamakhya mantra. Kauri is used as one of the tantric product, as kauri is used by Kamakhya Devi to wear it as jewellery and nowadays use by all tantric babas to wear it around their neck, waist and both hands.

Some species have historically been used as currency in several parts of the world, as well as being used, in the past and present, very extensively in jewelry, and for other decorative and ceremonial purposes.