Permanent Pictorial Cancellation : St. Mary's Island

 Permanent Pictorial Cancellation

 St. Mary's Island

St. Mary's Islands, are a set of four small islands (Coconut Island, North Island, South Island, and Daryabahadurgarh Island) in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Malpe in Udupi, Karnataka. According to folk legend, in the year 1498, Vasco da Gama landed at St. Mary's Islands on his journey from Portugal, fixed a cross on the island,  and named one of these islands, O Padrão de Santa Maria, as a dedication to Mother Mary, before proceeding to Kozhikode in Kerala. It is from this name that the islands got their current name.  There is no habitation on these islands. 

Out of the 4 islands, the northernmost island has a Basaltic rock formation in a hexagonal form, the only one of its type which is seen in India's St. Mary’s Island, Malpe. Scientific studies indicate that the basalt of the St. Mary's Islands was formed by sub-aerial subvolcanic activity. Till around 88 Mya, Madagascar was attached to this island.  

The islands form one of the four geological monuments in Karnataka state, one of the 34 Geological Monuments of India declared by the Geological Survey of India in 2001. The monument is considered an important site for "Geo Tourism". 

On 17th January 2015, India Post introduced permanent pictorial cancellation which depicts the hexagonal unique rock formation.  Thanks to the India post, recently they have adopted self ink cancellation from the conventional one.  Because of that, the cancellation is better and clear.

Thanks to Mr. Shashwath, MTS - Malpe office, who helped me with the cancellation.  Those who want this PPC can write to "The postmaster, Malpe post office, Malpe, Pincode - 576108".  They can be reached at (0820) 2538924.

Permanent Pictorial Cancellation : Belur temple

 Belur Temple

Quaint little town on the banks of the river Yagachi, once the capital of the Hoysalas [Hoy(strike) Sala(the king's name)] still standing tall as the testimony to the art patrons of Hoysala.  Art, dance, and music flourished under the Hoysala dynasty.  

Hoysalas who ruled the Deccan and its surroundings followed Hinduism.  In the 10th century they converted to Jainism and then in the 11th Century, they re-adopted Vaishnavism (branch of Hinduism) under the influence of the great guru Sri Ramanujacharya. 

The Belur Chennakeshava ( one of the 24 incarnations of Vishnu)  temple majestically stands on a star-shaped base, which is typical of the Hoysala style.  The construction of the temple commenced in 1116 AD and took about 100+ years and 3 generations to complete.  The intricate profusely sculpted masterpieces are made of soapstone(Schist), which when exposed to air will attain iron-like firmness.

I was lucky enough to visit this architectural marvel temple recently.  The detailed sculptures are speaking tons of stories and the intricate relief technic designs made me awe-struck.  No wonder it is called the "Modern Vaikuntha (heaven) of the earth".

On 2nd January 1978 India post introduced permanent pictorial cancellation, which shows "Darpana Sundari" ('Sundari' lady with a mirror 'darpana') - one of the major attractions in the temple. 

The Darpana Sundari sculpture depicted in the pictorial cancellation

I am happy to share that this architectural-historical wonder is included in the 2022-2023 tentative world heritage site and I strongly believe that it will be included in the world heritage site.

My humble request to India Post is, we have a rich and very old heritage.  As a philatelist, I am proud to share it with friends across the world.  But unfortunately, the quality of the cancellations are not reflecting the beauty.  They have taken 130 years to build this monument, but little effort from India post to improve the quality of cancellation will create a butterfly effect for sure.