2019-08-20 Tue

The Department of Posts has been organising competitions at the national level since 2015 to choose stamp designs for Republic Day, Independence Day and Children’s Day. This year’s theme for the nationwide photography competition held on Independence Day was “Gandhian Heritage in Modern India”. A set of two postage stamps (25 Rupees, 15 Rupees), an FDC and a Brochure have been designed based on this theme. 500000 pieces of each stamp have been printed using wet offset technique at Security Printing Press, Hyderabad. Three winners and five consolation prize winners were selected through the competition for this postal release that's a part of Gandhi’s 150th Birth Anniversary Celebrations.

The Khadi and Village Industries Commission was established in 1956. Development of Khadi industries was a part of the nation’s Five Year Plans. Khadi has been promoted by the Government and celebrities from different fields. Fashion designers are using Khadi to create Haute Couture clothing. It has become popular across all sections of society today.

Mahatma Gandhi’s inspirational life story has been portrayed through various path-breaking films such as Gandhi (1982), which won the Oscar for Best Picture; The Making of the Mahatma (1996), Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), Maine Gandhi ko Nahi Mara etc. DG Tendulkar released a series of eight books titled “Mahatma: Life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi”. Various other authors and historians have penned his biographies.

Temples dedicated to Gandhi are located in Sambalpur, Odisha, Chikmagalur, Karnataka, Nalgonda, Telangana and Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu. Gandhi Memorial is located in Kanyakumari while the Mahatma Gandhi Museum is situated in the Summer Palace of Madurai. The Gyarah Murti in New Delhi depicts a scene from Dandi March. A statue of Mahatma Gandhi along with a local village girl is located in Old Goa. Photographs of both these statues are featured on the latest postage stamps. Several roads and post offices in India are named after the Father of our country.

Gandhi’s date of birth, 2nd October is declared as a national holiday as it’s celebrated all over the country as Gandhi Jayanti. His date of death 30th January is observed as Martyr's day. All Indian banknotes except for the 1 rupee note features a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi. Several commemorative and circulation coins have been issued featuring his image as well.

Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons