Despite rapid social and technological changes in India, the use of craft products is an integral aspect of an Indian’s social life. Handicraft aims at processing materials by hand with hand tools. The result of this can be a useful thing or a decorative item. The tradition of making handicrafts is deeply frozen in the social norms of Indian society. In any of the handmade products, a crafter transfers an aspect of their cultural heritage to the ideas, forms, material and manufacturing process of the craft. Continue reading Traditional craft of India: Handicrafts on Stamps Part II
Every stamp tells a story. Along with these small, multi-colored pieces of paper come the long, adventurous and out of the ordinary chronicles. These valuable pieces of collectibles unfold the entire journal of past events that collectively tell us lesser-heard stories. They have become unusual pieces of evidence of past and the narrators of modern history. The story that the stamps are telling today is the story of a great war. Continue reading History through Philately – Indian Air Warriors of World War I
In the earlier blog, we discussed the governors of the Bengal Sultanate appointed by the Delhi Sultans. There were nearly around 25 governors appointed by Delhi Sultanate and six of them successfully issued coins in their name. Today we will discuss the first independent Sultan of Bengal Sultanate, the subsequent dynasties who ruled the Bengal Sultanate and about the coins of Bengal Sultanate. Continue reading Coins of Bengal Sultanate-II
Welcome to yet another chapter of our series “Banknotes of the Countries from across the world”. Though banknotes by their very definition are a type of a negotiable promissory note, made by a bank, payable to the bearer on demand, they are artistic treasures in their own right. All the countries are no doubt proud of their history and heritage and proudly boast about them on their currency notes. Currency notes and their designs and reason behind their issuance are in itself a topic of great interest and study. Hence we will discuss various such interesting and unique banknotes of the world.
In this part we are going to look at the banknotes of Italy. To read the first part of this series click here.
Continue reading Banknotes of Italy: Banknotes of the world- IV
Handmade crafts made and designed by the artisan are defined as a handicraft. If we further elaborate Handicraft, it is an art solely created by hand without using any kind of machinery! The process of making handicraft requires a different type of goods and skilled people who can convert decorative items out of papers, clays, wood, rock, fabric and much cheaper and easily available tools from nature. It is essential to have the favourable geographical condition and skilled labours for the rich tradition of making handicraft for cultures and societies throughout the world. Hence, India has a rich and continuous tradition in creating handicrafts and its antiquity can be traced to the Harappan Continue reading Traditional craft of India: Handicraft on stamps
The Vishnu trivia is not over yet. In the previous blog we discussed first five avatars of Lord Vishnu. We familiarised ourselves with their stories and the reasons why the Lord decided to incarnate on earth. These incarnations or the Avataras of lord Vishnu form a core concept of Hinduism. Hidden behind every Avatara is a message that the Lord conveys. Some even view the Dashavataras of Lord Vishnu as the stages of human evolution. In this series of blogs we are viewing the Avataras through the legendary artwork, Geeta Govinda, of poet Jayadeva. Department of Post, India, has issued a beautiful Miniature sheet depicting 11 stamps; with 10 avatars of Vishnu and one stamp depicting the celebrated poet, Jayadeva. Let’s continue our journey of exploring the Incarnations of lord Vishnu on stamps.
The year 2019 marks the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. It presents us with endless reasons to celebrate. There events are held through the year not only in India but all over the world in commemoration of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. India Post too has joined in the celebrations and has issued a set of seven commemorative postage stamps on account of Mahatma Gandhi 150th anniversary date. These stamps were issued on 2nd October 2018 and these stamps are unique in their shape and denominations. First time in its history, India Post is releasing circular shaped stamps in miniature sheet format. Let’s have a look at the special Circular commemorating Gandhi’s 150th Birth Anniversary stamps.
Have you ever wondered why different kinds of money are called what they are? Why a pound is called a pound and a peso called a peso? Here in this blog we will look at the world currencies and their etymological origins. Let’s see a few currencies names from all around the world and their possible meanings and origins.
Continue reading World Currencies and their etymological origins
The word ‘Sultan’ is derived from the Arabic abstract noun which means strength, authority, and power. During the medieval period, this word came into the use with the title of rulers who claimed full sovereignty, or it also refers to the powerful governor of a province within the caliphate. The word ‘Sultanate’ refers to the dynasty and the land ruled by the sultan. India had been a place ruled by many sultanates like Delhi, Bengal, Malwa, Jaunpur, Kashmir, Ahmednagar, Madhura, Gujarat etc; all these ruled India and issued their own coins. Today we will discuss about the coins of Bengal Sultanate. The coins issued by the Bengal Sultanate were lasted for almost 350 years, when it was replaced by rupee. The coins of Bengal Sultanate are unique among all the coinages issued in the Indian subcontinent.
Hindus worship a lot of Gods and Goddess. But the most fundamental of Hindu deities are the Trinity- Brahma (The Creator), Vishnu (The Preserver or Sustainer) and Mahesh (The Destroyer). The peace-loving deity of the Hindu Trinity, Vishnu, represents the steadfast principles of order, righteousness, and truth. He is said to descend in form of an avatar to restore cosmic order.
Continue reading Incarnations of Lord Vishnu on stamps – Part I
