N. T. Rama Rao 2000 India Stamp

Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, more popular in India as N. T. Rama Rao, and often referred to as N T R back home in the south, was one of the most popular actors that has ever graced the South Indian film industry. N. T. Rama Rao had been a part of mostly Telugu films, but he has also starred in some popular Tamil and Kannada ventures during the second half of his film career. later shifted his attention to producing and directing films for the Telugu film industry.  N. T. Rama Rao remained equally popular among the masses even after he retired from films and became a politician. 

N. T. Rama Rao was born on May 28, 1923 in the Nimmakuru village of Andhra Pradesh. Although his father was a farmer, the family was quite well-to-do and led a fairly lavish lifestyle. N. T. Rama Rao completed his primary years of schooling in Nimmakuru, later shifting to Vijayawada where he lived with an uncle who had adopted him.

He attended a school in Vijayawada from his sixth standard. However, the tables of fortune soon turned and N. T. Rama Rao's family could no longer be classified as rich. It was at this time that he took up his first job as a milk delivery boy in Vijayawada. He also became the clerk of a local provisional store. N. T. Rama Rao continued with his studies until he reached his twenties and was then a student of the Andhra University. It is said that N. T. Rama Rao possessed a lovely voice and was often found singing to himself during his youth. But destiny had some other plans for the actor who quit his first job in the civil services of India to enter as an actor in the Telugu film industry. 

Acting always interested N. T. Rama Rao and he actively became a member of college plays and other stage shows while still in college. According to reports, the first role that was offered to N T R in a college play was that of a female. Though he agreed to portray the role, he was reluctant to part with his moustache! Most of the plays organised by him during this point of time were done to generate funds to serve the poor and ailing in the society. A young man in his twenties, his journey to stardom had just begun. What followed thereafter made N. T. Rama Rao a legend, making a place for him on the pages of Andhra Pradesh history.

The year 1947 marked N. T. Rama Rao's entry into the world of Telugu cinema. It was B. A. Subba Rao, a very well known producer of films made in South India, who first noticed the legend in the making N. T. Rama Rao. B A Subba Rao was so taken by the photograph of N. T. Rama Rao that he did not think twice before signing him as the hero for his upcoming film 'Palleturi Pilla'.

N. T. Rama Rao did not have to go through the routine of a screen test and make up test for his debut performance on the big screen. Though he was signed for B A Subba Rao's film first, N. T. Rama Rao's first onscreen venture was a tiny part of a policeman in the 1949 L V Prasad film 'Mana Desam'. 'Palleturi Pilla', a film inspired from the English play 'Pizaro' went on to become a huge commercial hit in theaters across South India and won this talented actor much recognition.

N. T. Rama Rao had shifted base to Madras and taken up a rented space there to live close to his workplace, it became difficult for him to make end's meet with the money that he received as remuneration from films. N. T. Rama Rao also had to go without food for many days to save money. 

The year 1949 was good for N. T. Rama Rao, year 1951 was even better because it saw the release of K. V. Reddy's film 'Paathala Bhairavi' and B. N. Reddy's production 'Malleeswari'.

The former was a raging hit all over India and it was from here that the common man sat up and took notice of N. T. Rama Rao who was gradually making a place for himself in Tollywood and in the hearts of his fans.

The popularity of N. T. Rama Rao gradually increased and more producers were eager to work with him. In the year 1958, N. T. Rama Rao bagged the role of Ravana Brahma in the film 'Bhoo Kailas'. The actor was more than happy to play the character because in the word of N. T. Rama Rao, Ravana was the best historical mythological character that he had read or heard about. In 1960 was released the first mythological film starring N. T. Rama Rao in the lead. 'Sri Madvirata Parvam' was based on the story of Lord Venkateswara who is a much loved deity in South India. The common man did not flinch from lining up outside theaters playing the film in odd hours of the day to watch their favorite actor N. T. Rama Rao. 

Just like the popularity of N. T. Rama Rao as an actor increased, his remuneration also went up. His films 'Lava Kusa' and 'Maya Bazar' were record hits at the box office, breaking all previous records. N. T. Rama Rao remained an actor for more than 40 years of his life, giving his audience more than 300 films during the length of his illustrious career. He has been a part of more than 200 Telugu films, 15 Tamil films and also some Hindi and Kannada movies. N. T. Rama Rao was bestowed with numerous awards during his term as an actor. While Filmfare felicitated him ten times with the Best Actor Award (Telugu), his film 'Varakatnam' won National Award in 1968. Apart from that, he was also conferred with Padmashri Award and an Honorary Doctorate from Andhra University.

It was during the 1980s that N. T. Rama Rao retired from films to take up politics actively. Even when he was a part of the film industry, he always strived hard to convince the government to set up theaters in rural regions of Andhra Pradesh. He was one of the proponents of a governing system that would provide large sums of money for the proper production and distribution of movies. Therefore, it wouldn't be unfair to say that a politician was always hidden within N. T. Rama Rao. He set up the Telugu Desam Party in the year 1982, following which N. T. Rama Rao was elected the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh three times between the years 1983 to 1994. In between, N. T. Rama Rao became the leader of the Telugu Dasam Legislature Party in 1983. N. T. Rama Rao believed that politicians should develop direct contacts with the common man and therefore, he made extensive journeys across the state of Andhra Pradesh to promote his Telugu Desam Party. The journey was made on a personal van named 'Chaitanya Ratham'. 

N. T. Rama Rao was unanimously elected the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in 1994 in spite of the fact that he could not contest the elections owing to bad health.

N. T. Rama Rao breathed  his  last on January 18, 1996 at 72 years of age. He was a resident of Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh at the time of his death. He is still missed not only in Tollywood, but also in Andhra Pradesh politics. 

Department of Posts honoured him by releasing a commemorative postage stamp of his  remembering

 Issued Date: 28.05.2000
Denomination, : 300 Paisa

Dr. Indra Chandra Shastri 2004 India Stamp

Dr. Indra Chandra Shastri was a philosopher, an exceptional author, and an authority on poetics, philosophy, religion, culture, Indology, linguistics, grammar, epistemology etc. His pioneering contributions are evident in the field of Pali, Prakrit, Philosophy (eastern and western), History of  India, European  Language etc. He was an indefatigable and prolific thinker who combined abstract thought with a rare imagination. A  pursuer  of individual spiritualism and inspired by Jain Anekanta, he was a man of courage and dedication and  remained  a  fervent champion  of rationalism.

Born on 27 May, 1912, at Dabwali Mandi, now in Sirsa district of Haryana, Dr. Indra Chandra Shastri came to Bikaner for education where he studied Sanskrit and Prakrit. Later he received a Masters' degree in Sanskrit from Agra University and was bestowed the 'Shastracharya' in Vedanta from the Banaras Hindu  University.

He did his 'Shastri' from Punjab University and 'Nyayatirtha' from Calcutta. He obtained a Ph.D. under the tutelage of Pandit Bat Krishna Mishra. The doctoral dessertation in 'Epistemology of Jain Agamas' was highly commended.

Influenced     by     Mahatma     Gandhi,     Shastriji    actively participated  in  the  freedom  movement.  In  1942 campaigned against  Bat  Diksha,  a  practice  of  forcible  adoption  of  poor children  by  Jain  ascetics  in  Rajasthan,  prevalent  those  days. This resulted in the tabling of a bill in the assembly of Bikaner.

He also organised relief camps during partition. He was involved in organisational  activities,   he was Secretary Akhil Bharatiya Sanskrit Sahitya Sammelan in 1954-58. In 1957 he organised the Delhi session of All India Oriental  Conference.

He was Chief Speaker at World  Religious  Conference  in  Ujjain,  Rajgir  and Delhi. In 1959 he was appointed the first Head of the Department of  Sanskrit  in  the  Institute  of  Post  Graduate  Studies  in  the University of Delhi. In 1961, due to loss of eyesight caused by glaucoma,  he resigned  from the  post.  Subsequently  appointed Professor   emeritus   under   a  University   Grants  Commission scheme, he pursued  research  on 'Religion  and Modem  Man' in 1967-69. He remained  associated  with  various  departments  as a  guest  speaker.

His writings are marked with high scholasticism. He wrote about 70 books and more than  600 research papers  where he distilled the wisdom of ancient classical texts and applied it to modern times. His 'Pali Bhasa Aur Sahitya' has a series of three forewords followed by the Hindi translation of Wilhelm Geiger's introduction to his German classic entitled 'Pali literatur und sprache'.

Dr. Shastri made dispassionate analysis of thought currents which had prevailed over the centuries. He considered reason and logic as essential tools to dismantle the dead yet inherited thought structure of the past. He had the restless zeal of an explorer and reformer, evident in his works 'Religious Shops' and 'Ghosts of Culture'. His other important works are Sanskrit Kavya Shastra Ka Itihas, Mahabharat Ke Sukti Ratna, Alok Aur Unmad, Hamari Prampara, Jainism and Democracy, Dharma Aur Rashtra Nirman, Bharatiya Arya Bhasaen etc.

As a recognition of his pioneering efforts and  creative talent, he was awarded the 'Sahitya Seva Samman', by the Hindi Academy. He was also conferred the 'Sahitya Ratna Alankaran' by the Vice Chancellor of Delhi University. The President of India awarded him a 'Certificate of Honour' on 15 August 1986.

In his 'Epistemology of Jain Agamas', a comparative study, according to Dr. Satkari Mookerjee, "the maturity of judgement and sober appraisal of the lived and  orthodox  positions  and their points of  agreements and diversion by the author will ensure him the reputation of being one of the pioneer exponents of Jainology in English. It shows a healthy outlook and freedom from domestic bias".

He went on with his voluminous outpourings even after losing his eyesight and dictated his thoughts and ideas to create masterpieces.

Such a profile of courage and dedication Breathed his last on 3 November 1986. Dr. Indra Chandra Shastri advocated a spiritual journey for the individual from the personal to the  universal and the humane. His  life journey was a pilgrimage for truth which we all remember and cherish.

The Department of Posts  honoured him  by releasing a commemorative postage stamp in his memory.

Issued Date : 27. 05.2004
Denomination : 500 Paise

Dr. Benjamin Peary Pal 2008 India Stamp

Dr. Benjamin Peary Pal / Dr. B.P. Pal was born at Mukandpur in Punjab on 26 May 1906. He had his early education in Maymyo and Rangoon and got a Ph.D degree in Plant Genetics and Agriculture from the University of Cambridge, UK in 1933. He joined the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (then known as the Imperial Agricultural Research Institute), located at Pusa in Bihar in October 1933 as Economic Botanist. In 1937, he became the Head of Division of Botany of IARI. He served as Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). After retirement from ICAR, he served the nation in different capacities, including as Chairman of the National Committee on Environmental Planning and Coordination. Dr.  Pal expired on 14 September 1989 after guiding with great dedication and distinction agricultural research  and education in the country for nearly 60 years.

Dr. Pal's contributions to the' agricultural renaissance of India are many and varied. As a geneticist and plant breeder, he spearheaded the breeding of wheat varieties resistant to the rusts and other diseases. The wheat variety NP809 which he helped to breed is the first variety in the world with concurrent resistance to stem, leaf and stripe rusts. He also bred numerous beautiful varieties of roses and bougainvilleas. Even in his Ph.D work in Cambridge, he showed that the exploitation of hybrid vigour is possible in a self-pollinated crop like wheat. His findings paved the way for the commercial exploitation of hybrid vigour in self-pollinated cereals like rice and wheat.

Dr. Pal's contributions to the  promotion of agricultural research and education have been truly monumental. He was the prime architect of the All-India coordinated Research Projects involving inter-disciplinary and inter-institutional collaboration. He established a Post-graduate School at IARI in 1958 which helped to meet the human resource requirements of the Agricultural Universities of India. He fostered the growth of Agricultural Universities in all parts of the country in order to promote integrated attention to research, education and extension. He was the principal author of the chapter on "Education for Agriculture" in the report of the National Education Commission headed by Dr D S Kothari. The symphony approach he promoted in agricultural research and development helped to launch the green revolution in the country in the mid-sixties.

Dr. Pal has been a scientists' scientist, admired universally by both scientists and artists for his unique gifts of wit and wisdom. His research contributions have received national and global recognition through numerous honours and awards, including Padma Vibhusan by the President of India, Fellowship of the Royal Society of London, Japan Science Academy and all the major Science Academies of India. His plea made 70 years ago for launching "a research for new genes" led to a global movement  in the area of genetic resources conservation and enhancement. Through his efforts to mainstream ecological principles in technology development and dissemination he led the country into an era of sustainable agriculture and food security.

Love of  the beauty and diversity of nature and achieving the goal of food for all and for ever have been his abiding passions. He donated all his worldly belongings including two houses in New Delhi and Simla to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute. His life and work will continue to inspire generations of agricultural scientists and scholars.

Department of Posts honoured him by releasing a commemorative postage stamp during  Birth Centenary of Dr. Benjamin Peary Pal

Issued Date :05. 01.2008
Denomination : 500 Paise

Rasbehari Basu 1967 India Stamp

I was a fighter, "One fight more, the last and The Best". The above aphorism of Shri Rasbehari Basu sums up the philosophy of his struggle. Rasbehari Basu was the first Indian revolutionary since 1857 who had planned and acted to overthrow the British rule from India by armed insurrection.

He was born on the 25th may, 1886 at Palara Bighati village in the District of Hoogly, West Bengal. His father Shri Benode Behari Basu was an employee of the then Government of India. He received his early education at Chandernagore and Calcutta. According to his own statement, he began his revolutionary career when he was only fifteen. Inspired with the spirit of militant nationalism, he first tried to enter the army but later on got a job in the Forest Research Institute at Dehra Dun. It was from here that he commenced his revolutionary activities. He was so adapt in the art of secret organisation that even expert officers of the British Intelligence Police failed in their attempts to arrest him. It was he, who managed the throwing of the bomb on Lord Hardinge on the occasion of his State entry in Delhi on The 23rd December, 1912.

Rasbehari Basu left India for Japan in disguise in May, 1915. The British Police pursued him in Japan for nearly eight years to apprehend him dead or alive but he escaped until he eventually secured Japanese citizenship in 1923. In Japan, he learnt the Japanese language and wrote 16 voluminous books in that language on various subjects.

It was Rasbehari Basu who founded the Pan Asian League. He also founded the Indian Independence League in 1924 to carry on India's freedom movement from the East. This organisation, during the World War II was a parent body of the historic Indian National Army. Rasbehari Basu became the President of the Indian Independence League and the Indian National Army till Subhash Chandra Bose who saved the lives, properties and honour of millions of Indians in South-East Asia from the Japanese Occupation Army by arrangements with the Japanese military headquarters during the World War II. He passed away in Japan on the 21st January, 1945 at the age of 60 years.

The life and achievements of Rasbehari Basu can best be summed up in the following tribute paid to him by our late Prime Minister, Shri Lal Bahadur Shashtri: "Shri Rasbehari Basu is one of those famous names which was on the lips of those of the younger generation during the early part of the 20th century, who were fired with deep patriotic urges and emotions. Shri Basu was dedicated to the freedom and Independence of India and he considered no sacrifice small for the attainment of his objective." "He was gifted with a rare organising ability and during the First World War, he and his other comrades had planned an armed revolt of which he was the spearhead, he had to escape to Japan and undergo much suffering." "A man of great faith and courage, he lived up to the traditions of the renowned leaders and patriots of Bengal who have left behind a deep and lasting impression on our countrymen."

It was on the 26th December, 1941 that Shri Rasbehari Basu, as the President of the Indian Independence League had declared war against the British from Tokyo and this was a turning point in the struggle for India's Independence, as from that date the Indian National Army developed and expanded with great vigour.

The Department of Posts released a commemorative postage stamp in honour of Rasbehari Basu

Issued Date :26-12-1967.
Denomination : 15 Paise

Ramacharitamanas 1975 India Stamp

The first epic to appear in Hindi was Tulsidas' (1543–1623) Ramacharitamanas, also based on the Ramayana. It is considered a great classic of Hindi epic poetry and literature, and shows the author Tulsidas in complete command over all the important styles of composition — narrative, epic, lyrical and dialectic. He has given a divine character to Rama, the Hindu Avatar of Vishnu, portraying him as an ideal son, husband, brother and king,

Few  years back The original  (manuscript) along with few precious articles of its writer, Goswami Tulsidas, were stolen from the Hanuman temple in the Akhara Goswami Tulsidas on Tulsi Ghat,

It led to massive search operations by the Varanasi police, which was ‘informally’ aided by the CBI and the intelligence agencies as it was feared that these rare articles could be smuggled abroad. It took seven months before the police recovered all the articles — the rare pandulipi of Sri Ramcharitmanas, the piece of Goswami Tulsidas’

“But this manuscript  were so far available for public viewing were safely locked only to be taken out once every year to celebrate the Tulsi Jayanti,”

During recovering the original manuscript dwindled with each passing day,  V.N. Mishra, son of Professor Veer Bhadra Mishra, who  was the ‘Mahant’ decided to collect as many manuscripts of Goswami Tulsidas works as possible, including Sri Ramcharitmanas, from whatever source he could,” today  Dr. Vijay Nath Mishra, a leading neurologist and younger son of Professor Veer Bhadra Mishra.

Today he had collected more than 170 handwritten manuscripts from all over India. *The  unique in his  collection is Sri Ramcharitmanas in Urdu that was printed in a Lahore press 90 years ago*

At  present  the collection  are  with  Mishra family at Varanasi

The  above  stamp  shows the manuscript: Ramacharitamanas ( Epic poem by Goswami Tulsidas ) - 4th Centenary

Department of Posts released a commemorative postage on manuscript: Ramacharitamanas

Issued Date 24.04.1975
Denomination : 25 Paise

Delhi Development Authority 1995 India Stamp

Delhi became the focus of government activity in 1911 when the British shifted the capital from Kolkata (Calcutta) to Delhi. The initial location proposed for the capital was to the north of the Northern Ridge. It was later changed to the present location around Raisina Hills. Renowned town planners Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker planned the city of New Delhi in the year 1912. In 1922 a tiny Nazul Office, consisting of 10 to 12 officials, was set up in the Collectorate of Delhi, the first authority to regulate the planned development of the city. In 1937, the Nazul office was upgraded to an Improvement Trust, constituted under the provisions of the United Provinces Improvement Act, 1911, to control building operations and regulate land usage.

India's independence in 1947 and resultant migration increased Delhi's population from 0.7 million people to 1.7 million by 1951. Open spaces were occupied by migrants and civic services virtually collapsed. The two local bodies at that time, Delhi Improvement Trust and Municipal Body, were not adequately equipped to cope up with the changing scenario. In order to plan Delhi and to check its rapid and haphazard growth, the Central Government appointed a Committee under the chairmanship of G. D. Birla in 1950. This Committee recommended a Single Planning & Controlling Authority for all the urban areas of Delhi. Consequently, the Delhi Development (Provisional) Authority - DDPA - was constituted by promulgating the Delhi (Control of Building Operations) Ordinance, 1955 (replaced by the Delhi Development Act, 1957) with the primary objective of ensuring the development of Delhi in accordance with a plan.

On 30 December 1957, Delhi Development Authority acquired its present name and its role as the 9th builder of the city of Delhi.

DDA - Delhi Development Authority instigated operations in 1957 under the Delhi Development Act for a well-planned, orderly and swift development of Delhi into a capital city in its true sense. The biggest challenge in front of the Ministry of Urban Development Delhi has always been to provide adequate residential and commercial infrastructure facilities to over 11 million people in the city.

This metro and capital of India has been attracting large number of immigrants from the neighbouring cities and states and provided an accommodating atmosphere to all. The credit of this largely goes to the Housing Development Authority or DDA. Starting from the basic plan of Delhi by the legendary Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker, DDA Regional Housing Authority had the challenge to develop a pre-painted canvas into a beautiful artefact that New Delhi surely is with plenty home for all and more to come.

The Department of Posts brought out a commemorative postage stamp on Delhi Development Authority which has  been in the forefront of planning and building of the  capital of India

Issued Date 23.05.1995
Denomination :500 Paise

Raja Ram Mohan Roy 1964 India Stamp

Atmiya Sabha and Brahma Samaj founder,  Played a key role in abolition and Sati. Fought for the rights of women. 

Raja Ram Mohan Roy is known as the 'Maker of Modern India'. He was the founder of the Brahmo Samaj, one of the first Indian socio-religious reform movements. He played a major role in abolishing the role of Sati. Raja Rammohan Roy was a great scholar and an independent thinker. He advocated the study of English, Science, Western Medicine and Technology. He was given the title 'Raja' by the Mughal Emperor. 

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was born on May 22, 1772 in village Radhanagar in the District of Hooghly in Bengal. His father Ramkanto Roy, was a Vaishnavite, while his mother, Tarini, was from a Shakta background. Raja Ram Mohun Roy was sent to Patna for higher studies. By the age of fifteen, Raja Rammohun Roy had learnt Bangla, Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was against idol worship and orthodox Hindu rituals. He stood firmly against all sort of social bigotry, conservatism and superstitions. But his father was an orthodox Hindu Brahmin. This led to differences between Raja Ram Mohan Roy and his father. Following differences he left the house . He wandered around Himalayas and went to Tibet. He traveled widely before returning home.

After his return Raja Ram Mohan Roy's family married him in the hope that he would change. But this did not have any effect on him. Raja Ram Mohan Roy went to Varanasi and studied the Vedas, the Upanishads and Hindu philosophy deeply. When his father died in 1803 he returned to Murshidabad. He then worked as a moneylender in Calcutta, and from 1809 to 1814, he served in the Revenue Department of the East India Company. 

In 1814, Raja Ram Mohan Roy formed Atmiya Sabha. Atmiya Sabha tried to initiate social and religious reforms in the society. Raja Ram Mohan Roy campaigned for rights for women, including the right for widows to remarry, and the right for women to hold property. He actively opposed Sati system and the practice of polygamy.

He also supported education, particularly education of women. He believed that English-language education was superior to the traditional Indian education system, and he opposed the use of government funds to support schools teaching Sanskrit. In 1822, he founded a school based on English education.

In 1828, Raja Ram Mohan Roy founded the 'Brahma Samaj'. Through 'Brahma Samaj, he wanted to expose the religious hypocrisies and check the growing influence of Christianity on the Hindu society. Raja Ram Mohan Roy's efforts bore fruit when in 1829, the Sati system was abolished.

In November 1830 Ram Mohan Roy traveled to the United Kingdom as an ambassador of the Mughal emperor to plead for his pension and allowances. Raja Ram Mohan Roy Breathed his last on September 27, 1833 at Stapleton near Bristol due to meningitis.

Department of Posts honoured him by releasing a commemorative postage stamp on Raja Ram Mohan Roy

Issued Date : 27.09.1964
Denomination :15 Paise

Swami Chidananda 2016 India Stamp

Sridhar Rao, as Swami Chidananda was known before taking Sannyasa (embracing a life of renunciation), was born to Srinivasa Rao and Sarojini, on the 24th September, 1916, the second of five children and the eldest son. Sri Srinivasa Rao was a prosperous Zamindar (a rich landlord) owning several villages, extensive lands and palatial buildings in South India. Sarojini was an ideal Indian mother, noted for her saintliness.

At the age of eight, Sridhar Rao's life was influenced by one Sri Anantayya, a friend of his grandfather, who used to relate to him stories from the epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata. Doing Tapas (austerities), becoming a Rishi (sage), and having a vision of the Lord became ideals which he cherished.

His uncle, Krishna Rao, shielded him against the evil influences of the materialistic world around him, and sowed in him the seeds of the Nivritti life (life of renunciation) which he joyously nurtured until, as latter events proved, it blossomed into sainthood.

His elementary education began at Mangalore. In 1932, he joined the Muthiah Chetty School in Madras where he distinguished himself as a brilliant student. His cheerful personality, exemplary conduct and extraordinary traits earned for him a distinct place in the hearts of all teachers and students with whom he came into contact.

In 1936, he was admitted to Loyola College, whose portals admit only the most brilliant of students. In 1938, he emerged with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. This period of studentship at a predominantly Christian College was significant. The glorious ideals of Lord Jesus, the Apostles and the other Christian saints had found in his heart a synthesis of all that is best and noble in the Hindu culture. To him, study of the Bible was no mere routine; it was the living word of God, just as living and real as the words of the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Bhagavad-Gita. His innate breadth of vision enabled him to see Jesusin Krishna, not Jesus instead of Krishna. He was as much an adorer of Jesus Christ as he was of Lord Vishnu.

In June 1936, he disappeared from home. After a vigorous search by his parents, he was found in the secluded Ashram of a holy sage some miles from the sacred mountain shrine Tirupati. He returned home after some persuasion. This temporary separation was but a preparation for the final parting from the world of attachments to family and friends. While at home his heart dwelt in the silent forests of spiritual thoughts, beating in tune with eternal Pranava-Nada (mystic sound of the Eternal) of the Jnana Ganga (river of Knowledge) within himself. The seven years at home following his return from Tirupati were marked by seclusion, service, intense study of spiritual literature, self-restraint, control of the senses, simplicity in food and dress, abandonment of all comforts and practice of austerities which augmented his inner spiritual power.

The final decision came in 1943. He was already in correspondence with Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj of Rishikesh. He obtained Swamiji's permission to join the Ashram.

On arriving at the Ashram, he naturally took charge of the dispensary. He became the man with the healing hand. The growing reputation of his divine healing hand attracted a rush of patients to the Sivananda Charitable Dispensary.

It was also in the first year of his stay at the Ashram that he wrote his magnum opus 'Light Fountain', an immortal biography of Sri Gurudev. Sri Gurudev himself once remarked: "Sivananda will pass away, but 'Light Fountain' will live".

In spite of his multifarious activities and intense Sadhana, he founded, under the guidance of Gurudev, the Yoga Museum in 1947, in which the entire philosophy of Vedanta and all the processes of Yoga Sadhana are depicted in the form of pictures and illustrations.

Towards the end of 1948, Gurudev nominated him as the General Secretary of The Divine Life Society. The great responsibility of the organization fell on his shoulders. From that very moment he spiritualized all his activities by his presence, counsel and wise leadership. He exhorted all to raise their consciousness to the level of the Divine.

On Guru Purnima day, the 10th of July, 1949, he was initiated into the holy order of Sannyasa by Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj. He now became known as Swami Chidananda, a name which connotes : "one who is in the highest consciousness and bliss".

In August 1963, after the Mahasamadhi of the Master, he was elected as President of the Divine Life Society. After election, he strove to hold aloft the banner of renunciation, dedicated service, love and spiritual idealism, not only within the set-up of the widespread organization of the Society, but in the hearts of countless seekers throughout the world, who were all too eager to seek his advice, help and guidance.

Sri Swami Chidanandaji undertook the Global Tour at the kind request of numerous to serve the devotees of the Society.

On the 28th of August 2008, Most Worshipful Sri Swami Chidanandaji Maharaj entered Mahasamadhi (departure of a Self-realized saint from his mortal coil)

Department of Posts honoured him by releasing a commemorative postage stamp

Issued Date :21.05.2016
Denomination : 500 Paise

Kabir Das 1952 India Stamp

Kabir Das, a mystical poet and great Saint of India, 
He was very spiritual person and became a great Sadhu. He got fame all over the world because of his influential traditions and culture.

It is considered that he got all his spiritual training from his Guru named, Ramananda, in his early childhood. One day, he became a well known disciple of the Guru Ramananda.

There is no clue of the birth parent of the Kabir Das but it is considered that he was cared by a Muslim family. He was founded in Lehartara, a small town in Varanasi by the Niru and Nima (his care taker parents). His parents were extremely poor and uneducated but they very heartily adopted the little baby and trained him about their own business. He lived the balanced life of a simple house holder and a mystic.

It is considered that he got his spiritual training came from the Ramananda, guru of the Sant Kabir. In the starting Ramananda was not agreeing to accept Kabir Das as his disciple. Once upon a time, Sant Kabir Das had lie down on the ladders of the pond and reading the mantra of Rama-Rama, in the early morning Ramananda was going for taking bath and Kabir come down below his feet. Ramananda felt guilty for that activity and then Ramananda was forced to accept him as his disciple.

Later Neeru teela was the house of his parents  Neeru and Neema. Now it has become the accommodation for students and scholars who study Kabir’s work.

Sant Kabir was prejudiced by the existing religious mood of that time like Hinduism, Tantrism as well as the personal devotionalism mixed with the imageless God of Islam. Kabir Das is the first Indian saint who has coordinated the Hinduism and Islam by giving a universal path which could be followed by both Hindus and Muslims.

According to him every life has relationship with two spiritual principles (Jivatma and Paramatma). His view about the moksha that, it is the process of uniting these two divine principles.

His great writing Bijak has huge a collection of poems which makes clear the Kabir’s general view of the spirituality. Kabir’s Hindi was a dialect, simple like his philosophies. He simply followed the oneness in the God. He has always rejected the murti pujan in Hinduism and shown the clear confidence in bhakti and Sufi ideas.

All the poems and songs credited to the Sant Kabir are existing in the several languages. Kabir and his followers are named according to his poetic response such as banis and utterances. The poems are called variously as dohe, saloka and sakhi. Sakhi means to be memorizes and to remind the highest Truth.

The used things of the Kabir as well as other saints of his tradition are still kept safe and secure in the Kabir Math. The weaving machine, khadau, rudraksh garland (got from his Guru Swami Ramanand), rust free trident and all the other thing used by the Kabir someday are available at the Kabir Math.

A historical well is here at the Kabir Math, the water of which is considered as mixed with the Amrit Ras of his Sadhana. It was first guessed by the great Pandit Sarvanand from the south India. He came here for arguing with the Kabir and felt thirsty. He drunk water and ask for address of Kabir from the kamali. Kamali told him the address but in but in the form of dohe of Kabir Das.

Kabir ka ghar sikher par, jahan silhili gal.

Pav na tikai pipil ka, pandit lade bal.

He went to the Kabir for arguing but Kabir never accepted to argue and given Sarvanand a written of accepting defeat. Sarvanand returned his home and showed that paper of defeat to his mother and suddenly he saw that the statement was opposite. He was greatly influenced by that truth and again returned to the Kashi to the Kabir Math and became the disciple of the Kabir das. He was influenced by such a great level that he never touched any book in his rest life.

Later, Sarvanand became famous as Acharya Surtigopal Sahab. He became the head of the Kabir Math after Kabir.
Siddhapeeth  Kabirchaura Math Mumbai  is located in the famous cultural city of the India known as the Varanasi.

Kabir has breathed his last in the year 1518, but even  today Siddhapeeth Kabirchaura Math is followed  in same path by  his followers

Department of Posts honoured him by releasing a commemorative postage stamp

Issued Date : 01.10.1952
Denomination: 0.09 Paise

C.V.Raman Pillai 2010 India Stamp

Cannankara Velayudhan Raman Pillai (C.V.Raman Pillai) (CV) was one of the great Indian  novelists and  playwrights and pioneering playwright and journalist in Malayalam.

Born in (Trivandrum), capital city of the erstwhile native State of Travancore, on 8 November 1858 to Neelakanta Pillai, a Sanskrit scholar and Parvathy Pillai, who were both from middle-class families and were employees at the Palace of the Maharaja of Travancore. C. V.'s mother, Parvathi Pillai, was a scion of an ancient matriarchal family. Her matriarchal ancestral family abode, was called Cannankara, the "C" in C.V. Named Raman and fondly called Ramu by near and dear ones, the boy had a traditional Sanskritized education, early in life, under his father's tutelage which included lessons in Ayurveda and even magic and Tantra.

When he was 12 years old, under the patronage of Sri Kesavan Thampi, great grandson of Raja Kesava Das, a former great Dewan of Travancore, and Kaaaryakkaar (Manager) of Bhajanappura Madhom Palace, residence of the heir-apparent to the throne of the then Travancore State, Raman entered the first English school in Thiruvananthapuram and later graduated from H. H. Maharaja's College in Thiruvananthapuram, the first-ever College in Travancore, and at the end of a brilliant academic career under European Professors, Principal John Ross of Scotland and Dr. Robert Harvey of England, whose favourite disciple C.V. was, and took his B. A. Degree from the Madras University in 1881, securing the 7th rank in the Madras Presidency.

His foray into journalism was pioneering. Gifted alike in English and Malayalam, he was an early builder of Kerala's Fourth Estate. His sharp and incisive pen brought forth first, The Kerala Patriot, then the ' 'Malayali and finally the Mitabhashi.

C.V. Raman Pillai, popularly known as C.V., is classed with the greats in Indian literature like Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in Bengali and Hari Narayan Apte in Marathi. In the grand epic sweep of his great classics, Marthandavarma, Dharmaraja and Ramarajabahadur, he is in the class of the great Vyasa. In world literature, he ranks with Dostoevsky and Shakespeare.

Modern Malayalam drama traces its origins to C.V.'s works. His very first attempt at literary creation, was the first original play in Malayalam. Candramukheevilasam was written in 1884 and was staged for four days successively in 1887 at His Highness Maharaja's College, Trivandrum. This was also the first staging of a play in Malayalam by educated amateur actors. In fact, original Malayalam drama in prose began with his eleven farces, nine of which were published. They set the tone and paved the way for the Kerala theatre that it is now.

Kerala's folklore and Kathakali became an integral part of his literary metier. He drew out myriad forgotten episodes from his country's history and the genius in him wove them into unforgettable epics. Marthandavarma, his first novel, called by him a "historical romance, which was also the first historical novel in Malayalam, was written by him in 1885 but could not be published owing to lack of finance. It was published by Addison & Co., in Madras in 1891 only after "Indulekha" by Chandu Menon was brought out in 1889 and became the first-ever original novel in Malayalam. Marthanda Varma, however, was an instant hit and editorially hailed by The Hindu of Madras, on 21 December 1891. It continues to be a popular classic even today and has gone through more than 125 editions.

For nearly twenty years from 1891, C.V. did not produce any major literary work. 1909 saw the production of his major comedy, Kurupillakalari. It was in 1913, a year after he resigned from the post of Superintendent of the Government Press, in protest against the State Government's anti-people policies that he wrote his second novel, Dharmaraja, the first of a trilogy, that he conceived on an epic scale. The novel marked him out as a master craftsman in fiction. In 1915 he wrote a social novel, Premamritam which is the first satirical fiction in Malayalam. C.V.'s masterpiece, however, is Ramarajabahadur, published in 1918 and hailed by outstanding critics as the greatest novel in Malayalam.

Pillai was relatively old, by Indian standards of that era, when he first married. He was thirty years of age when he was married to Bhageerathi Amma, who was sixteen years younger than him. The marriage was arranged by their parents in the usual Indian way, and was harmonious and respectable. Six children were born of the marriage before Bhageerthi Amma died, aged 31, in 1905. Hardly one year later, Pillai married Bhageerathi Amma's elder sister, 34-year-old Janaki Amma. This was Janaki Amma's fourth and last marriage; she had been widowed twice and divorced once before finally marrying her sister's widower. The latest (third) of her previous husbands had been the well known painter, C. Raja Raja Varma. Varma, who was the younger brother of the celebrated Raja Ravi Varma, had also died in 1905. Janaki Amma, who had no children by any of her four marriages, helped Pillai raise his children (her nephews and nieces), and survived him.

C.V. Raman Pillai breathed  his last on 21 March 1922. Janaki Amma, who did not marry again, who breathed her last in 1933.

In 1970, the  Panchayat (local authority area) of Chenkal, which includes his native village of Arayoor, was renamed C.V.R.Puram in his honour. This was done due to the heartily expressed feelings of the people living there.

Department of Posts released a commemorative postage stamp on him

Issued Date 19-05-2010
Denomination : 500paise

Bertrand Russell 1972 India Stamp

Bertrand Russell An Philosopher & Mathematician

As a dreamer of world peace, Bertrand Russell could say " I see in my mind's eye a great wave of happiness seeping over the human race, as the old night of hate and fear become dispersed.

I see a new Golden Age the like of which has never been seen since history began . All this is possible . It needs only that man should choose to live rather than to die.

The philosopher and mathematician, Bertrand Russell, was born on May 18, 1872. He studied Mathematics and Moral Sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge and was appointed as Lecturer in the same College. In 1908 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society. He as a pacifist and during the First World War he suffered for his views.

As a Member of the Labour Party Bertrand Russell visited Russia and wrote a book on his impressions of the U.S.S.R.- "The Practices and Theory of Bolshevism."

He then visited China, studied Chinese life and thought. On his return he wrote a book "The Problem of China". Bertrand Russell was author of more than fifty books, many of them on Mathematics, philosophy and other academic subjects, bur many also deal with sociological problems.

He was active in many directions. A stimulating speaker and lecturer, he frequently took part in the BBC's "Brain Trust" programmes and was invited by it to deliver the inaugural series of Reith Lectures in 1947.

Temperamentally sympathetic to the India struggle for liberty, Russell became Chairman of the Indian League formed in Britain to help the Indians and their claim for self-government. During his later years, Russell was a moving spirit in the formation of various bodies working for world peace.

He was a founder of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and founded in 1963 the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation and the Atlantic Peace Foundation with the object of developing international resistance to the threat of nuclear war.

Bertrand Russell as married four times and had three children. He lived latterly at Plas Penrhyn in North Wales, where he breathed his last on February 2, 1970 in his 98th year.

Department of Posts brought out a commemorative postage stamp on Birth Centenary of Bertrand Russell

Issued Date : 16.10. 1972
Denomination : 145 paise

M.B. Kadadi 2012 India Stamp

Karmayogi M. B. Appasaheb Kadadi fondly known as M.B. Kadadi / Appasaheb was born on 15th September, 1909.  He drew inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi  and took an active part in the Swadeshi and Quit lndia Movements.

Appasaheb was also a founder member and chairman of ‘Sanchar‘, a daily newspaper in Marathi language which became famous for its impartial news and articles without any political bias. He took a leading part in founding the Solapur Chamber of Commerce and Industries which became the premiere organization of trade and commerce in Solapur district.

Appasaheb’s belief that ‘Life is Duty‘ won him the love of masses. He breathed his last on 27. 02.1992.

Department of Posts released commemorative postage stamp during the  Birth Centenary celebrations of  M.B. Kadadi 

Issued Date :17.05.2012
Denomination : 500 Paise

Karpoor Chandra 'Kulish' 2012 India Stamp

Karpoor Chandra 'Kulish', started Rajasthan Patrika as an evening newspaper and took it to the heights of glory, was a visionary par excellence, who had lived the ideal as embodied in the oft-quoted Puranic aphorism ‘charaiveti-charaiveti’ (move on and on and rest not), and above all, a man of extraordinary versatility as reflected in his ability to convert a small newspaper into an unmatched daily of Rajasthan.

He was a brilliant journalist, a scholar of Vedas, a thinker, a philosopher and a poet. When he was in his early twenties, much before he had achieved anything worthy of mention, he had awarded himself the appellation of 'Kulish' – the Invincible One.

Karpoor Chandra was born on March 20, 1926 in a relatively unknown village called Soda, which was a part of the erstwhile state of Diggi and Lawa of Tonk district in Rajasthan. He is best remembered for his fearless journalism and was a voracious reader and versatile writer. His famous compilation of all existing 11 Samhitas of four Vedas, titled as ‘Shabd Vedas’, has been a rare work.

He gave talks at the Universities of Bonn and Hamburg, the Institute of Indology in Frankfurt and the International Forum for a Better World, Cologne.His talks had also been serialized by the BBC, Voice of America and Voice of Germany.

Today, Patrika Group is the second largest Hindi newspaper group of India (as per ABC July-December 2011). Rajasthan Patrika reaches more than 19 million readers every day through its over 2.3 million circulated copies all over India. The Group has its presence in seven states with 30 editions covering a major portion of the India’s heartland.

He received “Haldi Ghati award” in 1983, “B.D Goenka award” in 1987, All India Editor's Guild Award” in 1999, “ Dr. Headgevar Pragya award” in 1993. He was also conferred with “Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi award”  He also composed 11 Vedas in a single volume which is considered as the largest and most bulky in terms of weight in the world. 

He Breathed his last  on 17. 01.2006

Department of Post brought out a commemorative stamp in memory of shri Karpoor Chandra 'Kulish'

Issued Date 16.05. 2012.
Denomination : 500 Paise

Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi 1966 India Stamp

Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi  was a noted Indian Hindi writer. Adhunikkaal, or the Modern period of the Hindi literature, is divided into four phases, and he represents the second phase, known as the Dwivedi Yug (1893–1918) after him, which was preceded by the BharatenduYug  (1868–1893), followed by the ChhayavadYug (1918–1937) and the Contemporary Period (1937–present).

He was born in Daulatapur village in present-day Raebareli District of Uttar Pradesh. His father Ramsahay Dwivedi was in British Indian Army.

During his Indian Railways service in Jhansiin the 1880s, Dwivedi earned wide fame as a writer and litterateur. He published his translations and the critical works including Sahitya Sandarbh and Vichar Vimarsh.

In 1903, Dwivedi joined the Hindi monthly,  Saraswati and  was able to edit the journal with a knowledge of both classical and contemporary literature gained from his writing experiences. During his tenure as the editor (1903–20), Saraswati became most popular Hindi magazine.

He was considered as the mentor of Maithili Sharan Gupt, another noted Hindi poet and writer.

Though Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi  is well known as a Hindi writer, he has to his credit three translations of Sanskrit classics --

*The Kumara-sambhava of Kalidasa*

*The Raghu-vamsa of Kalidasa*  

*The Mahabharata*

He Breathed his last on 29 December 1938 at age of 74

Department of Posts Brought out a commemorative postage stamp on May15, 1966, to honour the memory of Acharya Mahavir Prsad Dvivedi, one of the outstanding men of letters of modern India.

Issued Date :15-05-1966
Denomination : 15 Paise

All India Radio 1961 India Stamp

All India Radio renamed as 'Akashwani' but it's Urdu service yet announces that it's All India Radio.

All India Radio (AIR), officially known since 1982 as Akashwani  ("Voice from the Sky"), is the national public radio broadcaster of India and a division of Prasar Bharati. Established in 1930, it is the sister service of Prasar Bharati's Doordarshan, the national public television broadcaster. AIR has covered more than 99% of the Indian population as per the latest information given by Minister of Information and Broadcast. All India Radio is the largest radio network in the world. Its headquarters is at the Akashvani Bhavan in New Delhi. Akashvani Bhavan houses the Drama Section, the FM Section and the National Service. Akashvani Bhavan hosts  Doordarshan  Kendra (Delhi).

Akashwani is a Sanskrit  word meaning "celestial announcement," or "voice from the sky/heaven". In Hindu, Jain and Buddhist holy traditions, Akashvanis often featured in stories as a medium of communication  from the heavens to mankind.

"Akashvani" was first used in the context of radio by M. V. Gopalaswamy after setting up the nation’s first private radio station in his residence, "Vittal Vihar" (about 200 yards from AIR’s current location in Mysore) in 1936. Akashvani seemed to be an appropriate name for a radio broadcaster and was later adopted as All India Radio's on-air name in 1956.

During the British Raj, broadcasting began in July 1923 with programmes by the Bombay Presidency Radio Club and other radio clubs. According to an agreement of 23 July 1927, the private Indian Broadcasting Company LTD (IBC) was authorized to operate two radio stations; the Bombay station began on 23 July 1927, and the Calcutta station followed on 26 August 1927. However, on 1 March 1930, the company went into liquidation. The government took over the broadcasting facilities, beginning the Indian State Broadcasting Service (ISBS) on 1 April 1930 on an experimental basis for two years, and then permanently in May 1932. On 8 June 1936, the ISBS was renamed All India Radio.

On 1 October 1939, the External Service began with a broadcast in Pushtu; it was intended to counter radio propaganda from Germany directed to Afghanistan, Iran and the Arab nations. When India became independent in 1947, the AIR network had only six stations (in Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Lucknow, and Tiruchirappalli); three radio stations at Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi fell in the share of Pakistan. The total number of radio sets at that time was about 275,000 in India. On 3 October 1957, the Vividh Bharati Service was launched, to compete with Radio Ceylon. Television broadcasting began in Delhi in 1959 as part of AIR, but was split off from the radio network as Doordarshan on 1 April 1976. FM broadcasting began on 23 July 1977 in Chennai, and was expanded during the 1970s .

Today, The External Services Division of All India Radio ranks high amongst the External Radio networks of the world, both in reach and range, daily in 55 transmissions with almost 72 hours covering over 100 countries in 27 languages, out of which 16 are foreign and 11 are Indian.

Department of Posts honoured  All India  Radio services to  the  nation during  its Silver Jubilee celebration

Issued Date : 08.06.1961
Denomination : 15 Naya Paise

Ronald Ross 1997 India Stamp

Ronald Ross was a multifaceted personality. He was a novelist, musician, scientist and reluctant Physician. He was awarded Nobel Prize in medicine in 1902 for his contribution to the pathogenesis of malaria, which was the climax of his professional career, wavering between literature, music and science.

Ross was born in Almora, India. He was an obedient son of the Commander of British Forces on NW Frontier. He reluctantly enrolled for medical studies at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London and took his medical degree in 1879. After returning to India, he entered Madras Medical Service as a Surgeon. Ronald Ross was a man of letters and his first few years in India were richly productive of verses and prose, but idle medically. However the scourge of malaria was ever apparent to Ross. He writes

"The painful faces ask, can we not cure? We answer, No, not yet; we seek the laws

O God, reveal thro' all this thing obscure; the unseen, small, but million mudering cause"

In the year 1892, malaria became to him the object of scientific interest and all absorbing except for precious time allocated to music and poetry. Alphonso Laveran had already discovered malarial parasite in 1880. With the guiding hands of Patrick Manson, Ross succeeded in working out the life cycle of the malarial parasite in birds (sparrow). He discovered the object of his search, the zygotes (the sexual forms) in the stomach of the anopheles mosquito. The sporoblasts (progency) were later identified in its salivary glands. The parasites were present only in insects that had dined on the blood of infected sparrow. These critical observations were carried out at the makeshift laboratory in Secunderabad and thus the parasite-mosquito-host cycle of malaria was established after 5 years of relentless toil, on 20th August 1897.

In 1899, he retired from the IMS and in 1902 was appointed Professor of Tropical Medicine at the University of Liverpool, holding this post for 12 years. He was knighted in 1911. Sir Ronald Ross was reluctant to enter medicine, but having done so, made notable contribution to the greatest morbid hazard of mankind.

He  Breathed his last on 16.09.1932 in memory  of his work  Department of Posts released a commemorative postage stamp on him.

Issued Date:  20 Aug 1997 
Denomination: 200 Paise

Lifeline Express 2009 India Stamp

World’s First Hospital on Wheels ‘Lifeline Express’

Lifeline Express, the world’s first hospital on a train, have  been inaugurated  on 9.4.2014 by Shri Sunil Kumar Sood, General Manager, Central Railway at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Mumbai

This train is run by Impact India Foundation (IIF), an International Initiative against Avoidable Disablement in coordination with Indian Railways.

IIF is soon to launch a Cancer Detection and Control programme through its Lifeline Express.  This exemplary project has since 1991 provided medical services to nearly 900,000 disabled poor in remote rural locations across India. The services include surgeries for the restoration of sight, movement, hearing, correction of facial deformities and, prevention and treatment of epilepsy and dental problems – all free of cost, made possible by the ‘donated’ services of about 150,000 medical professionals from India and abroad.

This project has been replicated by four Lifeline Express trains in China, two in South Africa and Riverboat hospitals in Bangladesh and Cambodia. BBC’s film “The Magic Train of India”, shown worldwide, has attracted extensive media attention.             

Impact India’s major preventive project is the Community Health Initiative (CHI) – a sustainable, replicable model in partnership with the Government covering two million Tribals in rural Maharashtra – has achieved 72% reduction in disability in the area.

Its focus, in line with the Government’s National Rural Health Mission and the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals – 2015, is on preventive health care generating community health for long-term impact on disability reduction.

The Lifeline Express is a recipient of numerous accolades including the United Nations’ Grand Award for Excellence in Public Service, and has been honoured by the Government of India Department of Posts by releasing  a commemorative postage stamp

Issued Date: 12. 05. 2009
Denomination: 500 Paise

Jiddu Krishnamurti 1987 India Stamp

Jiddu Krishnamurti was considered a revolutionary writer and speaker on philosophical meditation and was someone who brought about a change in society. Krishnamurti believed that social reforms could only be possible if the minds of the individuals change. He also talked about spiritual issues and urged every human being to think about religious, political and social revolution. He was a 'guru' who never wanted to be one. It is said that Jiddu did not remember much of his childhood. Some called him delusional and others said that this was a sign that he was a self-realized master.

Jiddu Krishnamurti was born in a Telugu speaking Brahmin family to Narainiah and Sanjeevamma. His father was employed with the British administration and his mother died when he was just ten years old. In 1903, he shifted base to Cudappah where he attended school. Here, he was considered 'vague and dreamy' and 'mentally retarded'. He started penning childhood memoirs when he was eighteen years old and claimed to have had a psychic vision of his dead sister. His father retired in 1907 and then wrote to the then President of the 'Theosophical Society', Annie Besant seeking employment. He was hired as a clerk and he and his sons moved to the Theosophical Society headquarters in Chennai in 1909.

In May 1909, Krishnamurti met the influential theosophist called Charles Webster Leadbeater. Despite Krishnamurti's unpleasant physical appearence, Leadbeater saw a 'spark' in him and said that he would become a spiritual leader, a great orator and a vehicle for Lord Maitreya - a spiritual entity who appears on earth as a 'World Teacher' to look into the evolution of mankind. After this he was privately tutored under the wing of the Theosophical Society. It was here that he developed such a strong bond with Annie Besant that his father gave Besant a legal guardianship over Krishnamurti.

In 1911, the Theosophical Society named Krishnamurti the head of a new organization called the 'Order of the Star in the East' (OSE) which was to prepare the world for a new 'World Teacher'. This mission received publicity and worldwide press coverage. It is said that he was uncomfortable with publicity surrounding him and his future being foretold.

He was taken to England in 1911 where he gave his first public speech to the members of 'Order of the Star in the East' in London. At the same time, he started writing in magazines and booklets published by the Theosophical Society. After World War I, Krishnamurti gave a series of lectures and held meetings around the world regarding his role as the head of the 'Order of the Star in the East'. He continued writing, most of which revolved around work of the 'Order in preparation for the Coming'. 

In 1922, he met Rosalind Williams and they discussed the 'World Teacher Project' at Ojai Valley in California which later became his official residence. During the month of September, he went through a life changing spiritual experience. He experienced a mystical union followed by immense peace. Slowly, the 'process' began and Krishnamurti felt this initially as bodily pain and then unconsciousness, but he always claimed to know his surroundings. Over the next few years, he started talking about more abstract and flexible concepts. On 3rd August 1929, he dissolved the 'Order' in front of Besant in a speech known as the 'Dissolution Speech' which was heard over the radio. 

He kept denying the fact that he was a 'World Leader' and never clarified his position. He eventually dissociated himself from the Theosophical Society. He never had the concept of followers and a teacher. J. Krishnamurti spent the rest of his life holding dialogues and giving public talks on nature, beliefs, truth, sorrow, freedom and death. This wise man never believed in dependency and exploitation and never accepted gifts showered on him for his works. He urged people to think independently and gave lecture tours all over the world, published books and transcripts for half a century. 

In the years between 1930 and 1944, he engaged himself in speaking tours with a publication company trust called 'Star Publishing Trust'. Rishi Valley School was opened based on his educational ideas. It operated under the 'Krishnamurti Foundations' banner. Throughout the 1930s, he spoke in Europe, America and Australia and spoke about everything that he accepted was true. He faced opposition for this.

Krishnamurti talked of meditation in every discussion and also brought in new terms like 'choiceless awareness' and 'a single consciousness'. In 1938, he spoke of World War-II and for this he came under the surveillance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He stopped giving lectures until 1944, after which when he again became regular. All his lectures were published in 'Krishnamurti Writings Inc'. 

In 1953, he started writing prose and his first book was published by a mainstream commercial publisher. Majority of his writings were in third person and he increased the number of talks and dialogues. He met prominent personalities like the Dalai Lama and Jawarhalal Nehru during his time. In 1961, he found a physicist called David Bohm, whose beliefs were parallel to his. They had several discussions together and even met a scientific community. 

In the late 1980s Jiddu Krishnamurti wrote the basic elements of his teachings called 'Core of the Teaching', in which he stressed on knowledge and man being built as a sense of his images - religious, political and personal. 

Krishanmurti's works were inspiring and many take interest in reading them even today.  The 'Krishnamurti Foundation' still has archives of his teachings and it continues to grow. Unofficial Krishnamurti committees are operating in several countries and his biographies and research papers are continually referred to even to this day. 

Department of Posts honoured him by releasing a commemorative postage stamp on his birth  centenary

Date: 11th May 1987 
Denomination : 80 Paise

Hazrat Mahal 1984 India Stamp

Begum Hazrat Mahal, also known as the ‘Begum of Awadh’, was one of the earliest female freedom fighters during the First Indian War of Independence.

She played a pivotal role in the first war of Indian independence and fought the British forces along with other revolutionaries. But the British troops attacked Awadh again and after a long siege were able to re-capture it, forcing her to retreat. She refused to accept any kind of favours and allowances offered by the British rulers. Finally she sought asylum in Nepal, where she died after some time. She was the only major leader never to surrender to the British, and she maintained her opposition through twenty years of exile in Nepal until her death.

She was born as Muhammadi Khanum on 10.05.1820 in Faizabad,  Awadh, India, to a poor Syed family, descendants of Prophet Muhammad. *(citation needed)*

She was a courtesan by profession and after being sold by her parents, she was taken into the royal harem as a ‘khawasin’. Later she was sold to Royal agents and was promoted to be a ‘pari’.

After being accepted as a mistress of the King of Awadh, she was promoted and given the title of a begum. Later, the title 'Hazrat Mahal' was bestowed upon her after the birth of her son, Birjis Qadra. She was a junior wife of the last Tajdaar-e-Awadh, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah.

In 1856, when the British East India Company annexed the state of Awadh and ordered the Nawab to step down from the throne, she wanted him to resist and fight for the kingdom on the battlefield. But her husband, the King of Awadh, handed over the kingdom and was sent in exile to Calcutta.

Then she took up the charge in her own hands and decided to get Awadh back from the British. She fought bravely and also urged the rural folks to take part in the war. Later her forces seized control of Lucknow and she placed her 14-year-old son on the throne of Awadh on July 5, 1857.

It was with the support of the people of Awadh that she was able to recapture the lost territory of Awadh from the British rule. Within a year in 1857, when India’s first struggle for independence broke out and people revolted against the British, she emerged as one of the prominent leaders in the war.

With other famous heroes of 1857 such as Nana Saheb, Beni Madho, Tatya Tope, Kunwar Singh, Firuz Shah and all other revolutionaries of northern India, she fought courageously in the first freedom struggle of India.

Alongside Rani Laxmi Bai, Bakht Khan and Maulvi Ahmadullah, she played a unique role in the 1857 struggle. She was not only a strategist but also fought in the battlefield. She worked in association with Nana Saheb and later joined the Maulavi of Faizabad in the attack on Shahjahanpur.

Later, the British troops returned to recapture the state of Awadh and attacked her kingdom. Despite her brave efforts to save her state, the British company was able to re-capture Lucknow and most of Awadh on March 16, 1858. When her forces lost ground, she fled from Awadh and tried to organise soldiers again at other places.

After the defeat, although she kept an army in the field throughout the year, she was never able to re-establish herself and her son in Lucknow. She further accused the British of using discontent among the native people as a pretended for taking over the country, and demanded the restoration of her family as rightful rulers.

After residing for a brief period in Terai, she lost most of her adherents by the end of 1859 and was forced to migrate to Nepal where after much persuasion she was allowed to stay. She spent her entire wealth in sustaining the one hundred thousand refugees of 1857 who had traveled with her to Nepal.

Later she was offered a hefty pension by the British to return to her kingdom and work under the company but she refused the offer. Despite demands of the British government asking for her handover to face trial, she was allowed to live in the Himalayan kingdom where she died in 1879.

She breathed  her last  on April 7, 1879 in Kathmandu, Nepal, at the age of 59. She was buried in a nameless grave in the grounds of Kathmandu's Jama Masjid.

Department of Posts honoured Begum Hazrat Mahal, by releasing a commemorative postage stamp

Date Issued : 10.05.1984
Denomination : 50 Paise

Maharana Pratap 1967 India Stamp

Maharana Pratap was a Hindu maharaja of the Rajput confederacy of Mewar, in the present day state of Rajasthan. Much renowned for successfully resisting the efforts of the Mughal emperor, Akbar, to conquer his area, he is honored as a hero in Rajasthan.

His father, Rana Udai Singh, is considered to be a weak ruler but Maharana Pratap in contrast is revered as a courageous and brave warrior who refused to submit to the Mughal invasion and tirelessly defended his land and people until the very end. The eldest son of Rana Udai Singh II, he was the designated crown price who started displaying his valor during the reign of his father. While several of Pratap’s brothers-- Shakti Singh, Jagmal and Sagar Singh—served the Mughal emperor, Akbar, Pratap himself chose to resist the Mughal pressures to force him into submission.

Akbar sent a total of six diplomatic missions to Pratap in the hopes of negotiating an alliance with him, but Pratap vehemently refused to accede to the demands of the Mughal. War between the Rajputs and the Mughals became inevitable. Even though the Mughal army greatly outnumbered the Rajput one, Maharana Pratap fought bravely till the very end. He died a hero and his birth anniversary as
(Maharana Pratap Jayanti) is celebrated as a full-fledged festival every year on the 3rd day of the Jyestha Shukla

Maharana Pratap was born on 9 May 1540, in Kumbhalgarh Fort, Rajasthan, as the eldest son of Udai Singh II and Maharani Jaiwanta Bai. His father was the ruler of the kingdom of Mewar, with his capital at Chittor. As the eldest son of the ruler, Pratap was given the title of Crown Prince.

In 1567, Chittor was surrounded by the Mughal forces of Emperor Akbar. Rather than capitulating to Mughals, Maharana Udai Singh decided to leave the capital and move his family to Gogunda.

Prince Pratap wanted to stay back and fight. But the elders in the family convinced him that leaving Chittor was the best idea. Udai Singh and his nobles set up a temporary government of the kingdom of Mewar in Gogunda.

Udai Singh passed away in 1572, and Prince Pratap ascended the throne as Maharana Pratap, the 54th ruler of Mewar in the line of the Sisodiya Rajputs. His brother Jagmal Singh had been nominated as the Crown Prince by their father in his last days. But since Jagmal was weak, inefficient and had a drinking habit, the seniors in the royal court preferred Pratap to be their king. Jagmal swore revenge and left for Ajmer, to join the armies of Akbar, and obtained a jagir - the town of Jahazpur - in return for his help.

After the Rajputs had left Chittor, the Mughals had taken control of the city. However, they were unable to annex the kingdom of Mewar. Akbar wanted to rule all over Hindustan by himself and sent several emissaries to Pratap to negotiate an alliance.

In 1573 alone, Akbar sent six diplomatic missions to Mewar but Maharana Pratap turned down each one of them. The last of these missions was headed by Raja Man Singh, the brother-in-law of Akbar himself. The failure of efforts to negotiate a peace treaty angered Akbar who resorted to war to lay his claim on Mewar.

Akbar deputed Man Singh and Asaf Khan I to lead a force against Maharana Pratap in 1576. The Mughal forces numbered 80,000 men while the Rajput army had 20,000 soldiers, commanded by Gwalior's Ram Shah Tanwar and his three sons, Rawat Krishnadasji Chundawat, Maan Singhji Jhala and Chandrasenji Rathore of Marwar.

The Battle of Haldighati was a very fierce one following which the whole of Mewar except some of the Aravallis fell in Mughal hands. The Mughals were, however, unable to kill or capture Pratap who never ceased in his efforts to reclaim the kingdom.

In July 1576, Pratap recaptured Gogunda from the Mughals and made Kumbhalgarh his temporary capital. But then Akbar personally led a campaign against Pratap and occupied Gogunda, Udaipur and Kumbhalgarh, forcing the Maharana to retreat into the the mountainous tracts of southern Mewar.

Ever the resilient warrior, Maharana Pratap remained steadfast in his aim to recover his kingdom and within a few years he recovered many of his lost territories including Kumbhalgarh and the areas around Chittor. Eventually he also regained Gogunda, Kumbhalgarh, Ranthambore and Udaipur.

In 1576, Maharana Pratap fought the fierce Battle of Haldighati against the Mughal forces. Even though his army was greatly outnumbered by that of the Mughals, the Rajputs fought valiantly. The Rajput army faced heavy causalities, including the loss of the Maharana’s favorite horse Chetak, but the Mughals were not able to kill or capture the Maharana himself.

Maharana Pratap had 11 wives; among them his first and favorite wife was Maharani Ajabde Punwar. He had 17 sons and five daughters.

He sustained injuries in a hunting accident and died on 29 January 1597, aged 57. Upon his death his son Amar Singh succeeded him. On his death bed, Pratap told his son never to submit to the Mughals and to win Chittor back. But Amar Singh eventually submitted in 1614 to Emperor Jahangir, son of Akbar.

Department of Posts honoured Great  warrior by releasing a commemorative postage stamp

Issued Date : 11. 06.1967 
Denomination : 15 Paise

Gopal Krishna Gokhale 1966 India Stamp

Gopal Krishna Gokhale Political guru of Mahatma Gandhi  one of the pioneers of the Indian national movement  founder of the Servants of India Society.

Gopal Krishna Gokhale was one of the pioneers of the Indian national movement. He was a senior leader of the Indian National Congress. He gave voice to the aspirations of millions of Indians who were looking for freedom from the British rule.

Gandhiji considered him as his political guru. Apart from being a political leader, Gopalkrishna Gokhale, was also a social reformer. He founded the "Servants of India Society"-an organization dedicated to the cause of common people. Gopal Krishna Gokhale's contribution to the making of Indian nation is invaluable.

Gopal Krishna Gokhale was born on May 9, 1866 in Kothapur, Maharashtra. His father Krishna Rao was a farmer who was forced to work as clerk, as the soil of the region was not conducive for agriculture. His mother Valubai was a simple woman.

He received his early education at the Rajaram High School in Kothapur with the help of financial assistance from his elder brother. Later on he moved on to Bombay and graduated from Elphinstone College, Bombay in 1884 at the age of 18. 

Gopal Krishna Gokhale was one of the first generations of Indians to receive college education. He was respected widely in the nascent Indian intellectual community and across India. Education influenced Gokhale greatly. His understanding of the English language allowed him to express himself without hesitation and with utmost clarity.

His appreciation and knowledge of history instilled in him a respect for liberty, democracy, and the parliamentary system. After graduation, he moved on to teaching, and took a position as an Assistant Master in the New English School in Pune. In 1885,

He moved on to Pune and became one of the founding members of Fergusson College, along with his colleagues in Deccan Education Society. Gopal Krishna Gokhale gave nearly two decades of his life to Fergusson College and rose to become principal of the college. During this time, Gokhale came in contact with Mahadev Govind Ranade. Ranade was a judge, scholar, and social reformer, whom Gokhale called his guru. Gokhale worked with Ranade in Poona Sarvajanik Sabha of which Gokhale became the Secretary. 

Gopal Krishna Gokhale entered public life in 1886 at the age of 20. He delivered a public address on "India under the British Rule", which was highly appreciated. Gokhale regularly contributed articles to Bal Gangadhar Tilak's weekly "Mahratta". Through his articles he tried to awaken the latent patriotism of Indian people.

He was promoted as Secretary of the Deccan Education Society. When the Indian National Congress held its session in Poona in 1895, he was the secretary of the Reception Committee. From this session, Gokhale became a prominent member of the Indian National Congress.

Gokhale ji was twice elected as president of Pune Municipality. For a while Gokhale was also a member of the Bombay Legislative Council where he spoke strongly against the then Government. In 1902, Gokhale left the Fergusson College. He became a Member of the Imperial Legislative Council in Delhi. There he spoke for the people of the country in an able manner.

Gokhale had an excellent grasp of the economic problems of our country which he ably presented during the debates. In 1905, Gokhale started a new society called "Servants of India Society". This society trained workers for the service of the country. In the same year, Gokhale went to England to voice his concerns relating to the unfair treatment of the Indian people by the British government. In a span of 49 days, he spoke in front of 47 different audiences, captivating every one of them. Gokhale pleaded for gradual reforms to ultimately attain Swaraj, or self-government, in India.

He was instrumental in the introduction of the Morley- Minto Reforms of 1909, which eventually became law. Though the reforms sowed the seeds of communal division in India, nevertheless, they gave Indian access to the seats of the highest authority within the government, and their voices were more audible in matters of public interest. 

Gopal Krishna Gokhale was a diabetic and asthmatic. Excessive assertion took its toll on Gokhale's health and ultimately he breathed  his  last on February 19, 1915.

Department of Posts honoured a great  leader by releasing a commemorative postage stamp

Issued Date :  09. 05.1966
Denomination : 15 Paise

Red Cross centenary 1963 India Stamp

The man whose vision led to the creation of the worldwide Red Cross and Red Crescent movement; he went from riches to rags but became joint recipient of the first Nobel peace prize.

The idea of the Red Cross was convinced by Henri Dunant in 1859 when he saw forty thousand dying and wounded soldiers lying uncared for on the battlefield of Solferino Italy). The organisation itself came into existence in 1863 as a result of his efforts to establish an International body for taking care of the sick and wounded in all wars.

Tended with care and devotion, it has now become the great international institution whose primary function is the relief of human suffering on the impartial basis. Besides its traditional services in times of war and conflicts, the world has an extensive peace-time programme for the promotion of health, prevention of disease and mitigation of suffering.

Every year Henry Dunant, birthday on 08 th May as observed  The Red Cross day all over and it Have  been celebrated across the world by the Red Cross society

Henry Dunant, who was born in Geneva on 8 May 1828, came from a devout and charitable Calvinist family. After incomplete secondary schooling, he was apprenticed to a Geneva bank. In 1853, he travelled to Algeria to take charge of the Swiss colony of Sétif. He started construction of a wheat mill, but could not obtain the land concession that was essential for its operation. After travelling to Tunisia he returned to Geneva, where he decided to approach Napoleon III to obtain the business document he needed.
 
At the time, the Emperor was commanding the Franco-Sardinian troops fighting the Austrians in northern Italy, and it was there that Henry Dunant decided to seek him out. This was how he came to be present at the end of the battle of Solferino, in Lombardy.
 
Returning to Geneva, he wrote A Memory of Solferino , which eventually led to the creation of the International Committee for Relief to the Wounded, the future International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Dunant was a member and acted as secretary. He was now famous and was received by heads of State, kings and princes of the European courts. But his financial affairs were floundering and he was declared bankrupt in 1867. Completely ruined, he was in debt for almost a million Swiss francs (1860s value).

As a result of the scandal which this bankruptcy caused in Geneva, he resigned from his post as secretary of the International Committee. On 8 September 1867 the Committee decided to accept his resignation not only as secretary but also as a member. Dunant left for Paris, where he was reduced to sleeping on public benches. At the same time, however, the Empress Eugénie summoned him to the Tuileries Palace in order to consult him on extending the Geneva Convention to naval warfare. Dunant was made an honorary member of the national Red Cross societies of Austria, Holland, Sweden, Prussia and Spain.
 
During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, he visited and comforted the wounded brought to Paris and introduced the wearing of a badge so that the dead could be identified.
 
When peace returned, Dunant travelled to London, where he endeavoured to organize a diplomatic conf erence on the problem of prisoners of war; the Tsar encouraged him but England was hostile to the plan.

An international congress for the " complete and final abolition of the traffic in Negroes and the slave trade " opened in London on 1 February 1875, on Dunant's initiative. There followed years of wandering and utter poverty for Dunant: he travelled on foot in Alsace, Germany and Italy, living on charity and the hospitality of a few friends.
 
Finally, in 1887, he ended up in the Swiss village of Heiden, overlooking Lake Constance, where he fell ill. He found refuge in the local hospice, and it was there that he was discovered in 1895 by a journalist, Georg Baumberger, who wrote an article about him which, within a few days, was reprinted in the press throughout Europe. Messages of sympathy reached Dunant from all over the world; overnight he was once more famous and honoured. In 1901, he received the Nobel Peace Prize.
 
Henry Dunant Breathed his last on 30 October 1910.

Today his birthday , 8 May, is celebrated as World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day.

Then  Department of Posts &  Telegraph released a commemorative postage stamp to mark the Red Cross centenary,

Issued Date : 8 May 1963
Denomination : 15 Naya Paise

Apart from India Fifty two other countries are also  brought out the postage stamps on the occasion.

Robert Caldwell 2010 India Stamp

Bishop Robert Caldwell was born on 7th May 1814 in Ireland, came to Madras (now Chennai) in 1838 as a missionary of the London Missionary Society.

Caldwell arrived in Idayaiankudi after walking Hundreds of miles on behalf of the society for the propagation of the Gospel Mossion in the year 1841. Caldwell married Eliza Mault on 20th March 1844

He was a member of the Royal Asiatic Society.His most impressive work “A comparative Grammer of the Dravidian of South Indian Family of language in 1856. He wrote the book, A political and General History of the District of Tirunelveli.

He knew 18 languages. ( the stamp background shows 4 languages of South India like, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu)

Caldwell breathed his last in kodaikanal on 28th August 1891 at 77, His body was furied in the church built by him in idaiyankudi.

Department of Posts honoured by releasing a commemorative postage stamp on Robert Caldwell

Issued Date : 07.05.2010
Denomination: 500 Paise

Velu Thampi 2010 India Stamp

Velayudhan Chempakaraman Thampi (1765-1809) popularly known as Velu Thampi was the Dalawa or Prime Minister from 1802 to 1809 during the reign of H.H. Bala Rama Varma Kulasekhara Perumal, the Maharaja of Travancore, one of the powerful kingdoms in the pre-independent India.

He came from a family that had been honoured with the high title of Chempakaraman  for their services to the kingdom by Maharaja Marthanda Varma. Thampi was also a title given only to select loyal noble families in Travancore.

Velu Thampi was born in the village of Kalkulam to Kunjumayitti Pillai and Valliyamma Pillai Thankachi on the May 6, 1765, at Thalakulam, a district in Travancore. He led a disciplined life and was an exponent in martial arts. Velu Thampi was an able administrator who sacrificed his life for the independence of India way back in the 18th century. From a position of Kariakar (Tehsildar) to Mulakumadiseela Sarvadhikariakar, he rose to become the Dalawa or Prime Minister of the the kingdom.

Velu Thampi initiated several reforms during his Diwanship like the establishment of schools in all karas (local divisions), re-survey of land, reclamation of the barren land, construction of canals and roads, establishment of law courts etc. He made primary education compulsory. Assessment of tax based on the yield (kandezhuthu) was his innovation. His administrative reforms could help in improving trade and commerce. He also tried to bring in peace and tranquility within the state by resorting to harsh punishment to all law breakers. Flogging, cutting of ears and nose, nailing people to trees etc. were common during his Diwanship. He could put an end to corruption and injustice by launched a touring court to hear the grievances of the public and pronounce immediate judgments.

Velu Thampi was the first ruler after Pazhassi Raja to use defence tactics against the British. Though the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 has been referred to as the first freedom struggle, it was Velu Thampi who first raised the voice against the British in 1809.

Velu Thampi led the most courageous rebellion against the British which started as a direct fall out of the British Resident Macauly’s interference in the internal affairs of Travancore. Initially, he was helped in his cause by Paliath Achan, the Diwan of the Kochi kingdom, but in the later stages, he fought a lonely campaign against the British. While his predecessors enjoyed the privilege of drawing money from the Treasury,

Velu Thampi fixed the officials a monthly salary and also cut the allowance of the soldiers. This has led to an immediate revolt in the army. Though a good administrator, his stern and tough stand alienated him from some of the nobles as well.

In protest against the British, Velu Thampi addressed a large gathering at a place called Kundara on January 11, 1809 which later on came to be known as the Kundara Proclamation. It was an open call to arms which demanded the ouster of the British from the Indian soil. He proclaimed: “Don’t allow staying English forces that hurt us even for a second. Wash them out”. The proclamation had its effect and the whole kingdom rose like one man against the British. He was no match for the military might of the British Army. It was a tragedy that Velu Thampi failed militarily although he commanded a well trained army armed with muskets and artillery organized on European lines with 3,000 men and 18 guns! After his defeat at the hands of the British, Velu Thampi had to flee from his kingdom.

Meanwhile, the East India Company entered into a Treaty of Subordinate Isolation with the Maharaja of Travancore, offering its troops to ward off internal and external threats. Though this meant that the Nair Army who had fought bravely for the crown during the Third Mysore war would be disbanded, the Maharaja was supportive as it helped him maintain his throne while taking away a threat to his rule from future local rebellions. With the Treaty, Maharaja could call up the East India Company’s army to put down civil uprisings, not to mention anything about saving money. This Treaty was used by the East India Company in other princely kingdoms of India.

Velu Thampi had spent his last days at Mannadi and reportedly ended his life to avoid being humiliated by the British at the Bhagavathi  Temple  on 29 March.  1809 when the British Army Surrounded the  temple.  The Velu Thampi Dalawa Memorial being made at Mannadi near Adoor will be a fitting tribute to this great son of India who fought against the British 200 years back.

Department of Posts released a commemorative postage stamp of great  son who sacrificed  his  life  for  our  motherland.

Issued Date :06.05.2010
Denomination : 500 Paise