New stamp on Buddha from Hong Kong….

 

Date of Issue : 2 August 2011

World Heritage Site - Hong Kong Dunhuang Grottoes

Hongkong Post’s stamp sheetlets on Mainland Scenery are a feast for the eyes with magnificent landscapes and majestic architecture. The tenth and last series presents the Dunhuang Grottoes, a cultural legacy that has enjoyed worldwide fame for centuries.

Hong Kong Post issued a beautiful Miniature sheet on 2 August 2011 featuring  Hong Kong Dunhuang Grottoes. These are famous all over the world for magnificent Buddha Caves. Its The Mogao Caves were declared a World Heritage in 1987.This souvenir sheet is a delight for Buddha stamp collectors.

 

 

Dunhuang Grottoes

Situated in Dunhuang County of Gansu Province, the Dunhuang Grottoes consist of five main cave sites, namely the Mogao Caves, Western Caves of a Thousand Buddhas, Eastern Caves of a Thousand Buddhas, Yulin Caves and Caves of the Five Temples. Of them, the Mogao Caves are the oldest in history, grandest in scale and richest in content.

Located in a cliff-face on Mount Mingsha, 25 kilometres southeast of Dunhuang County, the Mogao Caves are sanctuaries for world-renowned sculptures and murals. They showcase a millennium-long anthology of Buddhist art, with the earliest dating back to the first year (366 AD) of the Taihe Period of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The 492 caves found still standing are a treasure trove of over 2,000 painted statues and 45,000 square metres of murals with 4,000-plus paintings of flying Apsaras. The Mogao Caves were declared a World Heritage Site in 1987 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

The upper half of the stamp sheetlet captures the magnificent vista of the Mogao Caves, while the lower half depicts a Buddhist mural found inside one of the caves. The vibrant colours of the painting still show despite the ravages of time. The flying Apsaras on the right and left are delineated in silver, lending a touch of elegance and fluidity. Built on the external wall of Cave No. 96, the Jiucenglou (nine-storeyed building) featured on the top of the stamp is the tallest structure in the Mogao Caves. By accentuating the enchanting Buddhist art against the spectacular caves, the stamp sheetlet celebrates the glorious works of art of Dunhuang.

Special Covers

Tamil Nadu

Date of Issue : 29 December 2008

SIPAGOLD’06

Ashwani Dubey – Gorakhpur

Club News

Stamp exhibition on Buddhism in Leh

India Post will host a stamp exhibition  in  Leh (Jammu & Kashmir)  from Sep. 1-5 during Leh Festival. 5 special covers are proposed to be released  during the exhibition. The exhibition will display some special exhibits on Buddhism. The collectors of Buddha theme who intend to display their exhibits in this exhibition may kindly contact Mr. John Samuel, Chief Post Master General, Jammu & Kashmir Circle at the earliest.

Hong Kong Chinese Idioms and Their Stories on stamps…

 

Date of Issue : 28 June 2011

Hi ! Here is a very beautiful set of stamps issued by Hong Kong Post featuring moral stories for all. The stamps have a message for every age group. It is  a wonderful theme on stamps.Each stamp depicts an idiom and a story related with it having a life message for all. The stamps are very nice I like them very much !!

Chinese idioms are set phrases which have evolved over thousands of years of use. Hong Kong Post’s first issue of Chinese idioms stamps was received eagerly by philately enthusiasts and the general public in 2006. The second set is now released in the form of Children Stamps, intending to stimulate the younger generation’s interest in Chinese culture and philately with colourful and lively pictures on five idioms and their stories.

Chinese idioms are succinct and expressive, vivid and figurative. Often originating from fables, literature and historical facts or personages, their stories are full of references and the wisdom of the ages.

The set of stamps is themed on five Chinese idioms.

$1.40 - Mutual help in hard times
This idiom originates from Zhuangzi (369 - 286 BC), the famous Daoist philosopher born in ancient China. It literally means that when the spring water dries up, the fishes stranded on land moisten each other with their saliva. The idiom is now used to describe people coming to each other’s assistance during difficult times.

$1.80 - Water drops wear away rocks
According to the observation of a scholar of the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279 AD), water drops, small and soft as they may be, can hollow out hard rock over time. The idiom carries the message that perseverance and determination breed success.

$2.40 - Practice makes perfect
Dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 AD) , this idiom refers to the repetitive heating and hammering during the iron forging process, alluding to the polishing of a piece of writing in the most meticulous manner in the quest for perfection. It is also used to describe one’s experience of numerous trials and challenges.

$3 - Save to give
This idiom originates from an article in the Tang Dynasty. It advises that governing officials should economise on resources so that more can be given back to the people for a better life.

$5 - As deft as a master butcher
Zhuangzi described in this story how a butcher used his superb skills to cut up an ox effortlessly for Lord Wenhui. It illustrates the fact that with constant practice and thorough knowledge, one can deal with everything with ease.

Colour stickers associated with the souvenir sheet can be matched with monochrome shapes on the stamps to complete the five stories. The game enhances the meaning behind the stories for children, as well as making stamp collecting fun!

Club News

Demand of a Philatelic Bureau by philatelists of Gorakhpur….

Press clipping

Published in  Amar Ujala

Green Living Stamps from Hong Kong….

 

Green Living

Date of Issue : 14 April 2011

Hong Kong Post will issue a set of 4 Stamps on “ Green Living” theme.Gentle and refreshing to the eyes, this set of 4 stamps is linked by the recurring motifs of a green leaf and mother earth. It is an artistic invitation to conserve valuable resources and to preserve our beautiful planet.

 

To improve Hong Kong’s environment and to protect our home planet, going green is the only answer. In fact, with a little thought to energy conservation and emission reduction, we can all do our part to build a better future for generations to come. In refreshing and uplifting colours, the set features a tender green shoot to highlight the four major elements in a green lifestyle. The blue planet is cleverly worked into the design to symbolise the close relationship between human life and global ecology, calling on people to treasure precious resources and Mother Earth.

$1.40 – Conserve Water - We must use our scarce and precious fresh water responsibly – not wasting, but conserving and reusing every drop. To this end, we can save water by not turning the tap on too far, taking showers instead of baths, reusing the water from washing vegetables and fruits to water plants, and doing much more.

$2.40 – Clean Air - Air pollution is a worrying problem that needs to be confronted. To improve air quality, we must make every small green change in our daily lives that will help support greening. For example, we can use public transport where possible, choose eco-friendly cars and switch off idling engines.

$3 – Save Energy - Over-consumption of energy in households contributes to environmental pollution and increasing energy shortage. There are plenty of smart ways to conserve energy. We can turn on lighting only when needed, switch to energy-saving light bulbs, keep doors and windows shut when air-conditioning is on, and use energy-efficient ways of cooking such as steaming and stir-frying.

$5 – Recycle - Hong Kong has to deal with a large volume of rubbish every day, which adds to the pressure on landfills. To help solve the issue, we must make efforts to reduce waste at source and recycle for reuse, for example, proper use of waste separation facilities to facilitate recycling and taking recyclable items to recyclers.

The leaf-shaped design of the stamp sheetlet echoes with the theme of green living and conveys the message of cherishing the Earth.

: Hong Kong Post

50th Anniversary of first men in Space

Date of Issue – 5 April 2011

San Marino issues a stamp today , commemorating first Men in space.The stamp of €0.50 portrays Gagarin set against the Soviet Union flag and the stamp of € 2.40 portrays Shepard set against the American flag. On 12 April 1961, Gagarin became the first human to travel into space .

The Soviet Union Aboard the Vostok 1 spaceship, the cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (1934 –1968) makes the first orbital flight around the Earth and then lands in the Saratov region. He leaves the space capsule, which brought him safe and sound through the atmosphere, with an ejection seat and ends his historical space flight by parachute. The event marks the first milestone in the space conquest.

Americans take up the Russian challenge on the 5th May 1961. The cosmonaut Alan Bartlett Shepard (1923-1998) orbits aboard the Mercury spaceship called Freedom 7, reaching the height of 185 km and the speed of 8.262 km/h. He is the first American cosmonaut to travel into space.

: San Marino Post

New Rose Stamp from Latvia

Date of Issue – 25 March 2011

Courtesy – EN Limanski

My Recent Covers

Andrzej Bek – Poland

EN Limanski – Riga, Latvia

Ivan Wong – Hong Kong

Thanks all of you for nice covers. I will send covers very soon . I am sorry I could not send covers to my friends since a long time as the covers are not available here but trying to get them soon for all my friends… Thank you very much !!

Club News..

 

Queen Victoria stamps set Hong Kong record

 

(AFP) HONG KONG — A block of 19th-century Hong Kong postage stamps featuring Queen Victoria's head sold for a record $820,000 at a weekend auction in the former British colony, organisers said Monday.

The set of four olive-coloured stamps was described as "extremely rare" with organisers chalking up their unusual colour -- they should have been a brownish-grey tone -- to a printing error.

The pre-sale estimate had been as high as $1.5 million, but it was still the highest price ever paid in the southern Chinese territory for a single lot of Hong Kong stamps. They went to an anonymous buyer.

The face value of each of the stamps, which were issued in 1865, was 96 Hong Kong cents (12 US cents at current conversion rates).

The stamp and banknote sale by auction house Spink on Sunday capped off a busy weekend of auctions in Hong Kong, with British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's wine collection fetching a higher-than-expected $5.6 million at Sotheby's.

Another wine auction raised about $10.8 million, well above the $9 million organisers had predicted.

"We are excited to see strong participation by Hong Kong, mainland Chinese and our Asian clients, along with numerous bidders back in America participating as well," said John Kapon, chief executive of auctioneer Acker Merrall & Condit, which organised that sale.

Hong Kong has emerged as the world's third-largest auction centre after New York and London, thanks in large part to China's rapidly growing number of millionaires.

Mainland Chinese are regular buyers of the top lots at sales of art, jewellery and wine and Hong Kong has positioned itself as a wine hub for Asia as well as the gateway to China's vast market.

The city was returned to Beijing by colonial power Britain in 1997, but maintains a semi-autonomous status within China.

 

:Jagannath Mani, Bangalore

 

Immanuel Sekaranar Stamp issue

What is actual date of Issue ??

 

Premature Release Immanuel Sekaranar 0n Oct 9

 Chennai

Mumbai

 

Finally Issued Officially on Dec 31 at New Delhi

Later India Post confirmed all its postal circles and Philatelic Bureaus that the correct date of release of Immanuel Sekaranar is 09th October 2010. 

Hence the same is not a premature release.

: Sreejesh Krishnan, Trivandrum