Munnar PPC

 Munnar Permanent Pictorial Cancellation

Discover the picturesque town and captivating hill station of Munnar, nestled in the southwestern Indian state of Kerala. Its name, "Munnar," holds a beautiful meaning in the local Malayalam language – "Three Rivers." Indeed, Munnar owes its charm to the convergence of three serene rivers: Muthirapuzha, Kundala, and Nallathanni. Perched at an impressive altitude of approximately 1600 meters above sea level, this enchanting destination has earned the endearing nickname, "Southern Kashmir."

One of the primary draws for tourists is the renowned Eravikulam National Park, where visitors can marvel at the Nilgiri Tahr, an endangered species that finds sanctuary in this scenic expanse. The park's conservation efforts have contributed to preserving this majestic creature.

Another notable highlight of Munnar is the Neelakurinji flower, an exquisite marvel endemic to this region of the western ghats. This floral wonder blooms only once every twelve years, painting the hills with a mesmerizing blue hue. Having last blossomed in 2018, the Neelakurinji is anticipated to grace Munnar's landscapes once again in the year 2030, a sight that locals and tourists alike eagerly await.

Adding to Munnar's allure, it received a remarkable honor on 9th November 1998, when it was bestowed with a Permanent Pictorial Cancellation. This special stamp features the picturesque Nilgiri Tahr alongside the enchanting Kurinji flower, symbolizing the rich biodiversity and natural splendor of this captivating hill station.

Badami - Permanent Pictorial Cancellation

 Badami - Permanent Pictorial Cancellation

Badami formerly known as Vatapi is a town in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka.   It was the regal capital of the Badami Chalukyas from 540 to 757 AD.   It is famous for red sandstone rock-cut cave temples and they were sculpted mostly between the 6th and 8th Centuries.  They remain intact even today.

There are four main cave temples in Badami. Cave 1 is dedicated to Shaivism (Lord Shiva), Caves 2 and 3 are for Vaishnavism(Lord Vishnu) and Cave 4 is for Jainism (Tirthankaras).

Cave temple 1 may be the oldest in Badami is dedicated to Shaivism. It has the 18-armed lord Nataraja in 81 dancing poses.  The Permanent pictorial cancellation depicts Nataraja as the cosmic dancer.  The PPC was introduced by India Post on 29/09/1987.

Thanks to Mr. Prashant for the PPC and the picture of the Post office.

Konark Sun temple - Permanent Pictorial Cancellation

 Konark Sun temple - PPC

Konark is a coastline city in Puri, Odisha. Konark has been derived from "Kona" - corner, and "Arka" - Sun. Konark Sun temple was built by King Narasinga Deva in 1250 A.D.  It is dedicated to Lord Surya, the Sun God.  It is made up of black granite and a black pagoda.  It took 16 years to complete the structure. 

The temple is shaped like a big chariot, representing Sun God's chariot.  Hindus believe that Sun God travels from east to west on a 7 horse chariot.  7 represents the number of days in a week. And 12 pairs of wheels (12*2=24) represent 24 hours of the day.  It was declared a World Heritage Site in 1984.

India Post introduced a PPC on 10-05-1979 depicting the Chariot Wheel.

Puri Jagannath Permanent Pictorial Cancellation

 Puri Jagannath Permanent Pictorial Cancellation

Odisha is an Eastern state of India.  Puri is a coastline city in Odisha, famous for its beaches and Lord Jagannath temple.  The Jagannath Temple is an important Hindu temple dedicated to Jagannath, a form of Vishnu.  The present temple was rebuilt from the tenth century onwards.   Anantavarman Chodaganga, the first king of the Eastern Ganga dynasty began to rebuild the temple.

India post on 13/07/2021 introduced a new self-ink cancellation of the Puri Jagannath temple.  I am fortunate to get this cancellation during my visit to Puri.  

It depicts the Lord Jagannath temple on top and sea waves on the bottom of the cancellation.  The current cancellation is far better and clearer than the previous cancellation.  

Thanks to Mr.  Suresh Chandra Jena, ATR Puri H.O.  

The Puri temple is famous for its annual Ratha Yatra (courtesy Wion news) or chariot festival, in which the three principal deities are pulled on huge and elaborately decorated temple cars.  In 2010, India Post issued a miniature sheet for this Rath Yatra.

Unlike the stone and metal icons found in most Hindu temples, the image of Jagannath is made of wood and is ceremoniously replaced every twelve or 19 years by an exact replica.

Permanent Pictorial Cancellation : Tabo Monastery

Permanent Pictorial Cancellation: Tabo Monastery

The oldest continuously operating Buddhist enclave in both India and the Himalayas is the Tabo Monastery.   It is situated at the height of 10,007 feet in the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh in north India. It was founded by the Buddhist king Yeshe Ö in 996 A.D. and carries the Tibetan name ‘Place of Happiness’. Tabo is considered a ‘daughter’ monastery of  Tholing Monastery in Ngari, western Tibet.

It is spread over an area of 6300 sq metres. The monastery comprises nine temples and gompas,  in addition to cave shrines along the mountain slope. All of which are originally made in mud and have been standing like this for more than 1000 years. The main temple hall has all its walls painted with Buddhist stories and 33 stucco sculptures of Bodhisattvas.  As murals and stucco sculptures are just like Ajanta Caves in Maharashtra. it is fondly known as Ajanta of the Himalayas.   

Tabo served as a meeting point for two cultures, Tibetan and Indian cultures - usually described as Indo-Tibetan. Because of its archaeological and historical importance, the monastery is maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India. 

India Post honored Tabo monastery with a special permanent pictorial cancellation on 22nd March 2022.  Thanks to Mr. Kamran for helping me with Tabo PPC.

The cancellation depicts the new Tabo monastery with the backdrop of the Himalayan mountains.

The New Tabo Monastery

Permanent Pictorial Cancellation : Udupi

 Permanent Pictorial Cancellation: Udupi

Udupi is a town in southwest Karnataka. It is a pilgrimage center.  Though it has a lot of temples, it is notable for the Krishna Mutt Temple. It is the native place of the Vaishnavite saint Shri Madhvacharya who founded the Krishna Mutt in the 13th century.

India Post commemorated Sri Krishna temple - Krishna, by introducing a permanent pictorial cancellation on 23rd January 1985.  

The unique feature of the Sri Krishna Mutt temple is that the Lord is worshiped only through a window with nine holes called the Navagraha Kitiki (9 planets window).  The window is exquisitely carved and silver–plated.

Navagraha Kitiki

Udupi lends its name to the popular Udupi cuisine.  If you are visiting Karnataka and you are a pure vegetarian, then it is very likely that you have eaten at one of the many Udupi restaurants across the globe.

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 million years ago, 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: Temples of AP

Temples of Andra Pradesh

Permanent Pictorial Cancellation

Below beautiful Permanent Pictorial Cancellation - cards are issued by Andhra Pradesh Postal Circle, Department of Posts of India

These 7 cards picture side depict the 7 respective temples

Permanent Pictorial Cancellations of India (PPC) Collection

 Permanent Pictorial Cancellations of India (PPC)

Andhra Pradesh

Chandigarh

Chandigarh GPO

Himachal Pradesh

Hidimba temple

Karnataka

Badami

Belur

St. Mary's Island

Udupi

 Jammu and Kashmir

Floating Postoffice

Odisha

Puri Jagannath temple

Konark Sun temple

Pondicherry

Aayi Mandapam

Tamil Nadu

Chennai - PB

Hasthampatti

Madurai

Mamallapuram

Mudumalai

Rock Fort Temple, Trichy

Srirangam

Udagamandalam

Permanent Pictorial Cancellation: Chennai Philately Bureau

The second movie theatre and the first electric theatre in Chennai (erstwhile Madras) was established in 1900 by Warwick Major and Reginald Eyre.  It started its operation by 1913.  Sadly it served as a theatre for a brief period of 2 years.  In 1915, the government acquired this place and the Head Post Office started working from this building. Even today it is standing tall and serving as a Philatelic Bureau since 1998.  India Post has introduced Permanent Pictorial Cancellation on 31st March 1998 depicting the front view of the historic building.  Historic building and age-old hobby, nice combination.

Permanent Pictorial cancellation : Mudumalai

I recently visited the Mudumalai Tiger reserve, a beautiful place to roam around especially for nature lovers like me.  But unfortunately, we could spot nothing more than a few spotted deers, bisons, mongoose and a handful of langurs, peacocks and peahens.  Though being the home of a variety of animals especially tigers ( Mudumalai Tiger Reserve) because of we humans they have been much disturbed. For example, the honking of cars, pollution and people's attitude towards these poor creatures have made these creatures insecure depriving them the comfort of their habitat. I have always wanted to become an environmental engineer to make a little difference in these matters. I also encourage each one of you to help towards preserving nature.

Now coming to the philatelic aspect of the topic, Mudumalai is a reserve located in the Nilgiris in between the boundaries of Kerala and Karnataka. It is at an elevation of about 1000 m and extends over an area of 323 sq. kms. Mudumalai B.O. had introduced a permanent pictorial cancellation of the Indian bison or Gaur on 05.04.1975.  Gaurs, spotted deers, elephants are few among the most common species found here.

Udagamandalam PPC

Udagamandalam Permanent Pictorial Cancellation

Pictorial cancellations are produced specially for a particular place for specific reasons. At the time of writing this, Tamil Nadu has about 34 permanent pictorial cancellations.  Udagamandalam or Ooty is one such place where a Permanent pictorial cancellation is available.  It is a hill station in the Nilgiris. The Queen of Hills, Ooty was the summer capital of the Madras Presidency during the British period. Dottabetta, the highest peak in southern India is located here.

The cancellation shows a Toda hut of the native Toda tribes. The cancellation was introduced on 15.07.1994.

The Todas are the ancient inhabitants of the upper Nilgiris plateau. It is believed by the Toda tribes that they were created by Lordess Teikirshy from the earth of Nilgiris. Now barely 500 todas are left. The outsider's acquisition of their land for agriculture and the afforestation of the road laying works by the Government threatened their habitat and narrowed down their pastoral activities.  

Below is the Picture postcard of the Toda hut issued by the India Post Tamil Nadu Circle.

Below are the few mails with Toda Hut pictorial cancellation available at Ooty's main Post Office. Thanks to Mr. Ravichandran and Mr. Sivaraj and the Philatelic Bureau in charge, Mr. Narayanan, Ooty Post Office.

A few other Permanent pictorial cancellations of  Tamil Nadu and Andra Pradesh postal circle can be viewed through:

philateli.blogspot.com/2015/10/permanent-pictorial-cancellations.html

philateli.blogspot.com/2016/04/permanent-pictorial-cancellation-aayi.html

philateli.blogspot.com/2015/06/permanent-pictorial-cancellation.html