Role as Ambassadors and Promoters of the national Image

Postage stamps have done much to portray the history and culture, the flora and fauna, the great personalities and inimitable works of art of a nation and carry these portrayals abroad. This role is a most fascinating feature of postage stamps.

The various colourful sets, series and commemorative stamps issued by the Department of Post s of India over the years during the post-independence era, especially since the 1970’s – starting from the Indian Miniature Paintings of May 1973 – present an enormous range of themes in an attempt to cover the multi-coloured dimensions of India and Indian culture. These stamps are as educative as they are colourful and fascinating.

Some examples of setenants or series which give us a glimpse into India’s flora and fauna are the multicoloured series on Wildlife Preservation of October, ’63, Indian Birds Series of December, ’68 and April, 75, Indian Flowers of July, ’77, Flowering Trees of September ’81, Indian Trees of November ’87, Himalayan Peaks of May ’88, Indian Flowering Trees of October, ’93, Himalayan Ecology of May ’96, Indian Medicinal Plants of October, 1997, Sea Shells of India of December, 1998, Endangered Species: Asiatic Lion of October, 1999, Wildlife Deifnitive Series, a set of 10 stamps of 2000, four multicolours on Corals of India of July, 2001 and so on.

The commemorative issues on Temple Architecture series of Rameshwaram, Tryambakeshwar, Aundha Nagnath, Kedarnath Temples and the Sun Temple of Konark of December, 2001; the four multicolours on the Panchathantra issued in October, 2001; and on the Mahabodhi Temple, Bodhgaya, the Mahaparinirvana Temple, Kushinagar, the Dhamek Stupa at Sarnath issued on 21st January, 2002; and the more recent ones on Vishal Badri Temple, Badrinath, Mallikarjunaswamy Temple, Srisailam; Tripureswari Temple, Udaipur (Tripura) and Jagannath Temple, Puri issued on 15th September, 2003 – all take the essentials of Indian culture and spread it round the globe.

Denis Altman1 calls postage stamps as “paper ambassadors”. Postage stamps are depictions of a whole civilization in miniature. Their colourful designs like miniature art, present little fragment of history.

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