Tags
Indo-Mexico diplomatic relations, Muthuramalinga Sethupathy, Postal Heritage Buildings, Princely States of India
Last year, I had written about the Postal Stamps released in 2009. Let us look at some of the new stamps brought out by the Postal Department of India in 2010. Approximately 85 stamps were introduced in 2010. Here are some interesting ones. Do visit the Postal Department website for a complete listing of stamps.
Muthuramalinga Sethupathy, was a king of Ramanathapuram, (present day Tamil Nadu) who resisted the British rule. He was crowned when he was 72 days old. The British captured 12-year old Sethupathy, his mother and sisters in 1772 and they were lodged in a Trichy prison. In 1782, amidst revolts in Ramanathapuram, he was released and he joined hands with Dutch to manufacture cannons. He also resisted the British efforts to have absolute rights over purchase of textile goods. The British attacked the palace again in 1795 and Sethupathy was arrested and lodged in Fort St. George where in died in 1809.
The Special Protection Group (SPG) was established after the assassination of
the then Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi. Comprising of nearly 3000 personnel, the group provides security to the Prime Minister of India, top officials, and their immediate families. The stamp is in recognition of the brave job they do in protecting lives.
India Post issued a set of postage stamps to commemorate INDIPEX 2011-World Philatelic Exhibition to be held in New Delhi from 12th to 18th Feb.2011.
Anti-clockwise from top, Lucknow GPO-Lucknow GPO is an example of relatively more contemporary engineering and architecture. It has been constructed with red brick and lime stone. A stone embedded on the main gate of the GPO dates the building as 1929-1932.
Cooch Behar HPO-The Post & Telegraph Office of Cooch Behar State was opened in 1875 under the administrative control of Rangpur Postal Division. The Cooch Behar Post Office initially functioned in the building situated in the Purana Post Office Para. Maharaja Nriprendra Narayan built the present Head Post Office building and, during his regime, there were one telegraph office and five Post Offices in Cooch Behar State.
Nagpur GPO considered the mother institution in the Postal Circle of the Central Province, is housed in a majestic Victorian building, once the seat of erstwhile Postmaster General Of Central Province & Berar.
Delhi GPO is among the very few buildings of India Post which has been given the status of Heritage Building by the Archaeological Survey of India. Opened in 1855, the Post Office was given permanent status in 1865 and it started functioning in the present building in 1885.
Shimla GPO on the Mall, established in 1883 on the site of a house known as Conny Lodge, is one of the oldest Post Office buildings in the country. During the Raj, Shimla was the summer capital and the GPO acquired pre-eminence due to its crucial role in ensuring effective receipt and despatch of Government mail (“Walayati Dak”).
The first Post Office in Udagamandalam was opened in 1826 with the appointment of a writer and two delivery peons. There are no records as to where the office originally was. In the earliest plan of Ootacamund (1829), the building which afterwards became the Post Office is shown and marked as Government Bungalow.
Few other interesting stamps include:
Compilation sources: http://www.thehindu.com, http://www.madrasmusings.com