Stamp on Samrat Ashok to be released today…

 

Commemorative Stamp on Priyadarshi Samrat Ashok

 

 

The release of the commemorative stamp on Samrat Ashoka was scheduled on 2^nd August 2015, but owing to the National mourning followed by the sad demise of former President Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, it was postponed. This stamp will now be released today on 24^th August 2015 in a function to be held at Vidyapati Bhavan Patna.

- Pradeep Kumar Malik – Patna

Ashoka Maurya ( 304–232 BCE), commonly known as Ashoka and Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from circa 269 BCE to 232 BCE. One of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over a realm that stretched from the Hindu Kush mountains in the west to Bengal in the East and covered the entire Indian subcontinent except parts of present-day Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The empire's capital was Pataliputra (in Magadha, present-day Bihar), with provincial capitals at Taxila and Ujjain.

In about 260 BCE Ashoka waged a bitterly destructive war against the state of Kalinga (modern Odisha). He conquered Kalinga, which none of his ancestors had done. He embraced Buddhism after witnessing the mass deaths of the Kalinga War, which he himself had waged out of a desire for conquest. "Ashoka reflected on the war in Kalinga, which reportedly had resulted in more than 100,000 deaths and 150,000 deportations." Ashoka converted gradually to Buddhism beginning about 263 BCE. He was later dedicated to the propagation of Buddhism across Asia, and established monuments marking several significant sites in the life of Gautama Buddha. "Ashoka regarded Buddhism as a doctrine that could serve as a cultural foundation for political unity."Ashoka is now remembered as a philanthropic administrator. In the Kalinga edicts, he addresses his people as his "children", and mentions that as a father he desires their good.

Ashoka's name "Aśoka" means "painless, without sorrow" in Sanskrit (the a privativum and śoka "pain, distress"). In his edicts, he is referred to as Devānāmpriya (Pali Devānaṃpiya or "The Beloved of the Gods"), and Priyadarśin (Pali Piyadasī or "He who regards everyone with affection"). His fondness for his name's connection to the Saraca asoca tree, or the "Ashoka tree" is also referenced in the Ashokavadana.

H.G. Wells wrote of Ashoka in his book The Outline of History: "Amidst the tens of thousands of names of monarchs that crowd the columns of history, their majesties and graciousnesses and serenities and royal highnesses and the like, the name of Ashoka shines, and shines, almost alone, a star." Along with the Edicts of Ashoka, his legend is related in the 2nd-century Ashokavadana ("Narrative of Ashoka", a part of Divyavadana), and in the Sri Lankan text Mahavamsa ("Great Chronicle"). The emblem of the modern Republic of India is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Ashoka.

Read More..

Read More

Stamp series on centenary of World War I

 

 

The set is the first of four issued by Guernsey Post to commemorate World War One

Guernsey Post to issue commemorative WW1 stamps every year until 2018

A series of Guernsey stamps will be issued to commemorate the centenary of World War One. Guernsey Post will issue the series entitled 'Stories from the Great War'.The first set of six stamps and a booklet depict men and women from Guernsey who showed great courage during the war.The series will be launched on 11^th November 2014 with a set of stamps issued every year until 2018.Guernsey Post has launched an appeal to find World War I memorabilia for a five-year "Great War" stamp series.

'Significant contribution'

Dawn Gallienne, head of philatelic at Guernsey Post, said: "The impact of the Great War changed the course of history and its effect is felt to this day."Following extensive research and an appeal in Guernsey for people to share information with us, over the next five years we will tell their stories and show the impact the Great War had on the Bailiwick, as well as the significant contribution our little community made to the war effort."

The individuals featured in the first set of stamps include the story of Private Yves Cataroche who was hospitalised at the Battle of Ypres.Among the women featured is Dorothy Nicolls, who volunteered to join a national shell filling factory in Chilwell, Nottinghamshire.The factory suffered two major explosions and Miss Nicolls was awarded the Medal of the Order Of The British Empire, later called the British Empire Medal, for her "courage and devotion to duty".

Read More

25th Anniversary of the fall of Berlin Wall

 

9th November 2014 - 25th anniversary of the fall of Berlin Wall

A stamp and souvenir sheet from Vatican City commemorate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.The names of 138 people who perished at the Berlin Wall are inscribed on this souvenir sheet from Vatican City.

2014 is a historic year for Berlin. It marks the 25th anniversary of the most significant event in recent German history: the Fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989. The wall stretched for 155km (96 miles) through Berlin but today only about three kilometers of it still stands.Within a year of its collapse, Germany - divided after its defeat in World War Two - was reunited.

 

Concerts and exhibitions are being staged in the city and Chancellor Angela Merkel will later attend a huge open-air party at the Brandenburg Gate. White balloons marking a stretch of the wall will be released to symbolise its disappearance.The Berlin Wall was built in 1961 to stop people fleeing from Communist East Germany to the West.Its fall in 1989 became a powerful symbol of the end of the Cold War. To remember the day many exhibitions and events will take place.

One of the main highlights  being held today, 9th November: Along the former course of the Berlin Wall a new temporary Berlin Wall will be built with thousands of illuminated balloons.

To the strains of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in the presence of guests of honour and eyewitnesses at the Brandenburg Gate and at six other locations, white balloons will be released into the skies on the night of 9 November to commemorate the peaceful revolution of 1989 and the fall of the Berlin Wall 25 years ago.

The fall of the Berlin Wall

The fall of the Berlin Wall during the night of the 9th and 10th of November 1989 marked a very joyous and unimaginable surprise for the inhabitants of East and West Berlin. For 28 years this border strip was strictly patrolled by technical and military means, dividing the city and conditioning the lives of its inhabitants. The Wall suddenly became passable even for the people of East Berlin as a result of the “Peaceful Revolution”. Beginning in 1975, the white wall of reinforced concrete visible from the west and the complex system of border fortifications became the defining image of the divided city, a symbol of the Cold War. The irreversible process of the city’s reunification began in the days following November 9th when the border troops of the German Democratic Republic, accompanied by jubilant Berliners, started to remove individual segments of the Wall to create more crossing points. Beginning in March 1990, before the German Democratic Republic began to remove the 45 thousand wall segments, Berliners themselves started the demolition process. Even the night the Wall was opened, they brought out their own hammers and chisels to start removing the first small fragments. In the autumn of 1990, the last sections of the Wall were saved to be kept as a monument. Today it is difficult to notice the past division of the city. Only a small section of the border strip and segments of the wall are kept as a historical monument inside the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer street.

- Manfred Wichmann, Berlin Wall Foundation

Club News

New stamp and two FDI-postmarks on December 4th 2014 in Germany

A new stamp for the return of the Sea trout (Salmo trutta) in German
rivers will be issued on December 4th together with two postmarks FIRST DAY OF ISSUE in 53113 Bonn and in 10117 Berlin.

- Wolfgang Beyer,Vice Chairman of the german philatelic collector group ARGE ZOOLOGIE. Mail: Wolfgang.beyer1@aol.de.

Request from our reader

Mr Jean-Louis from Switzerland is looking for the stamps (overprinted) of the Indian Custodian Force in Korea, used on covers really sent to India by Indian Soldiers and cancelled with the FPO 739, 740 and 741. Please contact Jean-Louis Emmenegger at jl.emmenegger@gmail.com

Read More

New stamps from USPS..

 

Date of Issue : 21 August 2014

Hudson River School stamps

USPS will issue a set of four Forever stamps on 21st August 2014 featuring famous paintings of Hudson River School .

During the 19th century, the artists of a young America searched for a new way of viewing the world and found it in the very landscapes around them. Inspired by the stunning natural beauty of New York state, the loose-knit Hudson River School of painters flourished from the mid-1830s to the mid-1870s and gave America its first major school of art.

This 12th issuance in the American Treasures series features details of paintings by four renowned Hudson River School artists. The paintings on these stamps are: Distant View of Niagara Falls (1830) by Thomas Cole, from the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago;Summer Afternoon (1865) by Asher B. Durand, from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Sunset (1856) by Frederic Edwin Church, from the collection of the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute; and Grand Canyon (1912) by Thomas Moran, from the collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

The Civil War: 1864 stamps from USPS

Date of Issue : 30 July 2014

USPS issued  two stamps on “The Civil War (1861-1865)”, the most wrenching chapter in American history, claimed the lives of more than 620,000 soldiers and brought vast changes to the country.

One stamp depicts the 22nd United States Colored Troops engaged in the June 15-18, 1864, assault on Petersburg, Virginia, at the beginning of the Petersburg Campaign. The other stamp depicts Admiral David G. Farragut’s fleet at the Battle of Mobile Bay (Alabama) on August 5, 1864.

Read More

New book on Odisha…

 

Confluences

– Journey into the Heart and Soul of Odisha

 

I am pleased to write  about   a new book recently published on Odisha “ Confluences” by noted philatelist and author,  Anil Dhir . Mr Dhir took up the quest to discover the last geographical boundaries that have been left for man to explore. It was not vast new lands that he was in search of, but confluence points - precise points that are on or near land where lines of longitude and latitude cross and the coordinates are whole numbers. For this, he chose his home state Odisha.This wonderful book is  all about author’s journey to fifteen intriguing destinations of Odisha'. He travels spontaneously off the beaten path and takes risks most people wouldn’t dream of. Each tale is unique yet all are connected by a spiritual thread.

Sometimes back I have written about some more books by Anil Dhir in this blog which were related with philately…but this book is different and very exclusive.  It has two chapters related with philately on postal history.

Confluences  – Journey into the Heart and Soul of Odisha by Anil Dhir  Published by Amadeus Press, Bhubaneshwar Pages 270 – Price - Rs 275

Author’s journey to 15 Confluent points of Odisha

Orissa is a unique combination of beautiful locations, exotic cultures and warm & friendly people.  Located on the eastern coast of India,with a 400 kilometer long coastline, towering mountains, serene lakes and frolicking rivers.

Odisha is a state which can be rightly called a classic land of paradoxes. Rich in history and geography   is  dotted with exquisitely built temples and monuments dating back to ancient and medieval times. The sprawling Chilika Lake, Mangrove forests of Bhitarkanika and marine turtle rookery at Gahirmatha are world’s important sites of natural heritage as recognized by Ramsar Convention.

This book has two interesting philatelic stories ‘ The king’s messenger’ and ‘The Last Post’. Philatelists would love to read these chapters related with postal history along with adventurous stories of different places falling on specific confluence points  which Mr Dhir visited. The narration of the places, surroundings, people, their lifestyle is so interesting and it gives a complete picture of  rural Odisha to the Readers…

The book is a beautiful travelogue explaining history, culture, traditions, rituals and legends of Odisha. 

The State is also referred to as “The Soul of India”, as it is considered as a mystical land where the past and the modern today form a harmonious blend. It is often said that the State has everything under the sky, opulent forest and agricultural wealth, mineral reserves and a divine coastline. The state is a treasure trove of minerals and natural resources. The other face is of a land of acute and chronic poverty for the bulk of its population.The book closed the gap between the two faces to a great extent. 

Some thrilling moments of the author's journey from the book…

“ We were chased by an elephant at Raijharan (21N 85 E), nearly bitten by a king Cobra at Sukinda (21N 86E) Stepped on a sleeping python at Talari (20N 84 E) , and taken hostage by Maoists at Maligam (19N 83 E). a porcupine shot its quills at me in Kottsamalai (24N84E) We nearly drowned when our boat capsized in the Tel river and Nandul (20N83E).

At Talari we discovered a pre historic rock shelter with art on the walls. I found a cache of Stone Age tools inside a cave. I picked up a two carat diamond from  the sands in the Ib river at Kainsara (22N 84E), a few kilometers upstream from Hirakud dam. At Sonepur we got ourselves fistfuls of semi precious stones and at Sunari posi in Keonjhar we joined Jhara tribesmen in panning for gold in the nearby streams.”

The book is full of many more interesting events that happened during the long  journey of the author…

The author wades in knee-deep water with his  GPS device to arrive at a confluence point – Maligam 19°N 83°E – in the middle of Murani River in Odisha

This book is an extraordinary travelogue which combines history,culture, myth, legends traditions, rituals and  concerns explained in 27  chapters. Each chapter has its own story  full of thrill and adventurous description .

The book is written in such a way that it continuously creates curiosity and  fascination  till the end of the book.

Even for readers who do not like history and geography subjects , the writer has written with such affection and humor that the topic becomes fascinating to one and all. The stories, given after each of his Confluence visit reports are an eclectic mix, highlighting the little known aspects of the State. The general reader would be aware of Odisha as the land of the Sun Temple and the Lord’s abode at Puri, but this is one book which showcases the state as never done before. It is definitely a journey into the heart and soul of Odisha. If one has to readjust a single book to know Odisha, this is the one.

All different chapters in the book are first hand experiences of the places , Mr Dhir visited and people he met during his hunts for  the confluences. He travelled nearly 21,000 km visiting  every district of Odisha. The chapters in the book  are varied, ranging from the crumbling Sun Temple of Konark, an old forgotten cemetery, a maverick  Tonga puller, a large hearted Naxalite, a dying river, lakk-foraging buffaloes, an environmental hotspot and the penury of Odisha’s starving poor. By going through this book the readers will  definitely get a new picture of Odisha with its rich past,  present and a glimpse of the future of Odisha.

I strongly recommend the book to all those who love adventure and travelling as well as to the  students of geography and  history and to all those people who love to know about various hidden and unexplored  places . The book is an asset to the library of all educational and cultural  institutions .

The author’s cartographic journey, hunting for Confluences, takes one on a roller coaster ride all over the State . One can explore Odisha through this magnificent book and know more about this beautiful state. Let’s join the journey of 15 unexplored confluences of Odisha through this wonderful book .

The book is available for  Rs 200/-  post free instead of  published price of Rs 275  for the readers of Rainbow Stamp Club. Interested readers may contact :

Anil Dhir, 112 Vaishno Villa Satya Nagar, Bhubaneshwar – 751007. email : anildhir2k5@hotmail.com

 

Anil Dhir is a well known name in philatelic community. He is not only a renowned philatelist but also a noted writer from Bhubaneshwar, Odisha. He has written articles and books on various subjects . He has, over the years, traveled extensively all over India, mostly off the beaten track. He has worked among the Juang and Kondh tribals of Odisha, with Indian National Army veterans.His other interests include flying, film making, collecting stamps  old books and manuscripts, Indian temple art and architecture. He has directed and produced an award winning documentary titled “ The Last Post”.

His books on philately are quite popular among philatelists.His recent book ‘ Confluences’ is a travelogue based on his experiences and observations of  extensive journey  to the unexplored places of Odisha.

Read More