Nandipada.Indian coin of Apollodotus I, with a Nandipada taurine symbol on the hump of the zebu bull.
The Nandipada ("foot of Nandi") is an ancient Indian symbol, also called a taurine symbol, representing a bull's hoof or the mark left by the foot of a bull in the ground. The nandipada and the zebu bull are generally associated with Nandi, Shiva 's humped bull in Hinduism.[1] The Nandipada symbol also happens to be similar to the Brahmi letter "ma".
The Nandipada appears on numerous ancient Indian coins,[2] such as coins from Taxila dating to the 2nd century BCE. The symbol also appears on the zebu bull on the reverse if often shown with a Nandipada taurine mark on its hump on the less worn coins, which reinforces the role of the animal as a symbol, religious or geographic, rather than just the depiction of an animal for decorative purposes. The same association was made later on coins of Zeionises or Vima Kadphises.[1][2]
