Uttar Pradesh’s spiritual traditions must be preserved through postage stamps: Yogi
UPHILEX-2022: Stamps on display include those depicting 14 regions of UP where Lord Ram travelled to during his exile. Annexures pertaining to six important locations associated with Lord Buddha will be released on October 17.
“The rich cultural and spiritual traditions of Uttar Pradesh must be preserved through postage stamps and ‘special covers’ issued by the postal department so that the next generation can be taught about them more easily and broadly,” chief minister Yogi Adityanath said while inaugurating the 12th state level philatelic three-day exhibition, “UPHILEX-2022,” on Saturday.
The exhibition is organised by the Uttar Pradesh postal circle, as a part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav at the Lalit Kala Academy where more than 300 frames of old and new postal stamps are on display.
“Philately was once a national hobby. The department has done an excellent job of connecting the past and present through these exhibitions, as it is an excellent medium for increasing knowledge about our past and our present,” he said.
“Owing to special covers, today we are fortunate to see 14 most significant regions of UP that Lord Ram travelled during his exile. He spent 12 years in UP out of his 14 years of exile and Chitrakoot is a witness to this. The postage stamps were thus helping us preserve history by making many aware of things like Lord Ram’s exile period and how he worked to provide a safe environment in the society of that time,” he added.
The CM said annexures pertaining to six significant locations associated with Lord Buddha will be released on October 17. “Buddha delivered his first sermon in Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh. Kushinagar, Kaushambi, and Sankisa are the three most important Lord Buddha sites in Uttar Pradesh. There are six significant locations associated with Lord Buddha in the state that Buddhists visit,” he said.
“Kumbh was widely acclaimed, and UNESCO named it an ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.’ Today when discussing Kumbh locations, Prayagraj is the centre of all attention,” he said.
The CM said that special covers and postage stamps can help increase interest of children in history, enhance their knowledge and motivate them to collect stamps.
“We have the most fertile land and water resources. Although the weather is better now, 17 districts of Uttar Pradesh are currently flood-affected. We can use postage stamps to raise awareness of people also,” he added.
Chief postmaster general Kaushlendra Kumar Sinha, Neeraj Bora, MLA, Lucknow North, Jai devi, MLA, Malihabad were among those present on the occasion.
IPS officer displays collection showcasing various aspects of policing
An exhibit on police titled “An overview of Indian Police Service” was showcased by philately enthusiast and IPS R P Singh and showcased an IPS officer’s career progress.
This included recruitment, appointment, training, performing various duties and heading different departments using philatelic material like postal stamps, first day covers, special covers, postal cancellations. “Perhaps it is the first in many decades that such an initiative has been taken in the last many decades,” Singh said.
UP’s cultural history through philately
KC Gupta, 74, a philatelist and retired additional commissioner of sales tax, has showcased the history of various UP districts through over 350 stamp collections. His collection includes Ayodhya’s Deep Utsav, Holi in Barsana and Kanpur, the Chauri Chaura incident, and various cultural aspects of Awadh. He said he started building his collection since 1970s and among his first few collections was an Indian postal stamp issued in 1910.
