SPPU to host ‘Mini Philately Exhibition’ till October 15

The exhibition is a part of the national postal week celebration which kick-started on Saturday

Vintage postal covers from the pre-Independence and post-Independence era, rare Gandhi stamps, and scented stamps among others have been put on display at the ‘Mini Philately Exhibition’ at the marble hall of Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) till October 15. The exhibition is a part of the national postal week celebration which kick-started on Saturday. The exhibition was inaugurated by Nitin Karmalkar, vice-chancellor, SPPU.

A visitor is seen observing the postcards put on display. (Sanket Wankhade/HT PHOTO)

The exhibition will also display Vinayak Awate’s collection. Awate is an acclaimed philatelist and numismatist who has to his credit hundreds of stamps and postal covers from countries such as Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Nepal, Czech Republic, Thailand and Indonesia.

Awate said, “Collecting postal memorabilia is my hobby. I have procured rare stamps, currencies, and special covers from across the globe. Through this exhibition, we hope to educate the society about the rich cultural heritage of the postal department.”

Abhijeet Bansode, senior superintendent of post office (West), said that the week-long celebration was aimed at spreading awareness about postal literacy among citizens, especially students, who must visit the exhibition to trace their postal heritage. “There is an impressive collection of stamps belonging to different eras of the Indian society which is a rare opportunity for Puneites. The initiative has received good response and we have had a fair number of visitors at the exhibition so far,” he said.