Issued by Sri Lanka

Issued on May 7, 2011

Issued to Commemorate the 150^th Birth Anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, the Indian poet.

Picture : A Portrait of the Poet, Rabindranath Tagore

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Watermark : No

Colour : Multicolored

Denomination : 5.00 Rupee

Name : Rabīndranātha Thākura

Born on May 7, 1861 at Kolkata, India

Died on Aug 7, 1941 at Kolkata, India

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Issued by India

Issued on May 7, 2011

Issued for : India Post is feeling proud in releasing the set of stamps to commemorate 150 years of Rabindranath Tagore birth anniversary.

Design : The design of the stamps depicts; Tagore‘s writing – background shows Upasana ghar at Santiniketan; Tagore performing in his play ‘Valmiki Pratibha‘ and a painting by him.
FDC : Tagore inset against one of his paintings.
Brochure : Some doodles & scribbles of Tagore.

Credits :
Stamp & FDC : Sankha Samanta
Cancellation : Alka Sharma

Type : Miniature Sheet, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 500 Paise each

Stamps Printed : 0.6 Million each (0.3 million for normal distribution and 0.1 million for e-post office to be sent to Sansad Marg HO, 0.2 million for proponent to be sent to Sansad Marg HO)

Miniature Sheets : 0.2 Million (0.1 million for normal distribution and 0.1 million for e-post office to be sent to Sansad Marg HO)

Printing Process : Wet Offset

Printer : India Security Press, Nashik

Name : Rabīndranātha Thākura

Born on May 7, 1861 at Kolkata, India

Died on Aug 7, 1941 at Kolkata, India

About : 

• The fourteenth child of Maharshi Debendranath Tagore and Sarada Devi, Rabindranath Tagore was born on 7 May 1861 at Jorasanko, Kolkata. His creative genius was nothing short of epic-poet, essayist, writer of fiction and drama, musician, performer, educator and builder of institutions. His work has a universality that marks the triumph of humanism and creativity with a social purpose. Dropping out from formal education, he set up two unique school : Patha Bhavan and Siksha Satra and an international University Visva Bharati and Santiniketan.
  
• He wrote his first drama ‘Prithvirajer Parajey‘ in 1873 but today no copy of this exists. The next year his poem ‘Abhilasha‘ was published in ‘Tattwabodhini Patrika‘ and in 1875 he made his first public appearance to recite his patriotic poem ‘Hindumela Upohar‘. His study of Law at the University College of London remained incomplete as he returned in 1880. His writing of prose, verse, drama and music was prolific. Through the years of marring to Mrinalini Devi, birth of five children and the ups and downs of his personal life, he continued to write and involve himself in the social and political problems of India.
  
• His first book, ‘Sandhya Sangit‘, was published in 1880 and in 1881 he wrote his first musical drama ‘Valmiki Pratibha‘. He advocated education in the mother tongue, critical of the prevalent system of English education. He started a Swadeshi store in Kolkata and a jute pressing factory in Kushtia to promote indigenous goods and employment for youth. He read a paper ‘Kantharodh‘, reacting to the arrest of Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1898.
  
• Moving to Santiniketan with his family, Tagore revived Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya‘s monthly journal ‘Bangadarshan‘. The nucleus of Santiniketan was begun in 1901 but the foundation stone was laid in 1918. He advocated a policy of constructive non-cooperation against the British through his articles and essays, but withdrew from the ‘Swadeshi‘ movement disillusioned over the political exploitation of the Hindu-Muslim conflict.
  
• ‘Gitanjali‘, his magnum opus, was first published in Bengali (1910). A meeting with the British painter, William Rothenstein, led to the publication of ‘Gitanjali‘ in English by the India Society of London, with an introduction by W.B. Yeats. Macmillan, London, also published ‘Gitanjali‘ along with ‘The Gardener‘, ‘Crescent Moon‘ and ‘Chitra‘ and in 1913 Tagore became the first Asian recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Knighted in 1915, he also met Gandhi the same year at Santiniketan. He renounced his Knighthood in protest against the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in 1930.
  
• In 1916 he began his journeys to countries in Asia, Europe, South America, Africa and the USA, writing and speaking on nationalism, education and culture and also raising funds for the Visva Bharati University. He was often invited for Lectures at Universities. Doodles on his writings led to this emergence as a painter in 1924. Performing in his plays, holding exhibitions of his paintings, delivering lectures, writing and publishing his works, expanding Santiniketan, leading a protest against the High Detention Camp shooting incident – Tagore‘s life was a multi-coloured fabric in which not a single thread was wasted.
  
• In 1940 Oxford University conferred a Doctorate on him. His last lecture was read out at his eightieth birthday. He breathed his last on 7^th August 1941.
  
• Text : Based on the material provided by the proponent.

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Issued by India

Issued on Oct 13, 2008

Issued for : Department of Posts is happy to issue a commemorative postage stamp on “Post Office”.

Credits :
Stamp & FDC : S. Samanta
Cancellation : Alka Sharma

Type : Miniature Sheet, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 500p (stamp) & 1500p (Miniature Sheet)

Stamps Printed : 0.8 Million

Miniature sheet : 0.2 Million

Printing Process : Wet–offset

Printer : Security Printing Press, Hyderabad

About : 

• Today we are so used to electronic aids like telephones, mobiles, e-mail, that we have taken these inventions for granted. For these inventive geniuses thousands of devoted workers who carried out with the spirit of adventure and built this present day structures and institutions. Today these institutions belong to us to be cherished and to be taken forward. The Post Office is one such institution. Post Office is one of those public organizations which is more intimately bound up with human relations than other governmental departments. It deals with messages, helps to connect people, makes communication between human beings through the letter.
• When we come to think of it, what an aroma of romance surrounds the letter! With what eager expectations one awaits the coming of a letter! How many of us have not felt like a little boy in Rabindra Nath Tagore’s Play, “The Post Office; Dak Ghar” who anxiously awaits the letter from the King to be delivered to him through a newly opened post office or Dak Ghar in the village.
• The Post Office is universally recognized as a facilitator of communication. The postal runner defied all odds – natural calamities, wild beasts, geographical terrain and bandits in the discharge of his duties. As aptly described by the Watchman to the little boy in the Play Dak Ghar,
  • “Ha! Ha! Postman, indeed! Rain or shine, rich or poor, from house to house delivering letters that’s very great work”.
• Today Post Office not only delivers letters but retail diverse range of services through its vast network. Its capacity to handle financial transactions and its knowledge about the local environment provides efficient and cost effective means of catering the various services to the public. India Post today represents both tradition as well as modernity. Post Office has become a mark of continuity and change.
• Through his Play “Post Office” Gurudev Rabindra Nath Tagore portrayed Post Office as symbol of goodwill, good wishes and King’s love for the common people.

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Issued by Bangladesh

Issued on Aug 7, 1991 (৭-৮-১৯৯১ ইং, ২২-৪-১৩৯৮ বাংলা)

Designer : Ahmed Fazlul Karim
নকশাবিদ : আহমেদ ফজলুল করিম

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Multicolour
রং : বহু রং বিশিষ্ট

Denomination : Tk. 4.00
টিকিটের মূল্যমান : টাঃ ৪.০০

Size : 32 x 42 m.m.
টিকিটের আকার : ৩২ x ৪২ মিঃ মিঃ

Perforation : 12.5
টিকিটের ছিদ্রক দূরত্ব : ১২.৫

Total No. of stamps Printed : 10,00,000
মুদ্রিত মোট সংখ্যা : ১০,০০,০০০

No. of stamps in each sheet : 80
প্রতি পাতায় টিকিটের সংখ্যা : ৮০টি

Process of printing : Offset
মুদ্রণ প্রক্রিয়া : অফসেট

Printer : Bangladesh Security Printing Press, Gazipur
মুদ্রাকর : সিকিউরিটি প্রিন্টিং প্রেস, গাজীপুর

Name : Ravīndranātha Thākura

Born on May 7, 1861 at Kolkata, India

Died on Aug 7, 1941 at Kolkata, India

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Issued by India

Issued on May 8, 1987

Issued for : The Department of Posts is privileged to issue a stamp in honour of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore.

Description of Designs : The 200 P stamp shows the self portrait of Gurudev Rabindra Nath Tagore. The First Day Cover design has been made by the renowned artist Shri M.F. Hussain. The cancellation has been designed by Miss Nenu Bagga.

Type : Stamp, Mint condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 200 Paise

Overall size : 4.06 x 2.41 cms.

Printing size : 3.70 x 2.05 cms.

Perforation : 13 x 13

Paper : Imported unwatermarked Adhesive Gr. coated stamp paper

Number printed : 10,00,000

Number per issue sheet : 45

Printing Process : Photogravure

Printed at : India Security Press

Name : Rabindranath Thakur

Born on May 7, 1861 at Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India

Died on Aug 7, 1941 at Kolkata, India

About : 

• Born on 7 May, 1861, in the Jorasanko house at 6, Dwarkanath Tagore Lane, Calcutta, Rabindranath was the fourteenth child of Devendranath Tagore (1817-1905) and Sarada Devi (1826/27-1875).
• The family discovered Rabindranath’s gift for song and poetry quite early in his life. His first poem to appear in print was ‘Abhilash’ in the Tattavabodhini Patrika in 1874 where it was described to be a twelve year-old boy’s composition. The next year, he made his first public appearance as a poet reciting a patriotic poem of his own composition at the ninth session of the Hindu Mela.
• His first literary writings appeared first in Jnanankur O Prativimba and later in the family literary journal ‘Bharati’. In 1878 he accompanied his brother Satyendranath to England where he studied English Literature at the University College, London. The year 1881 also saw him writing his first musical play, Valmiki Pratibha and appearing himself in the title role. In 1883 he was married to Mrinalini. Rabindranath spent the next decade of his life (1890-1900) mainly in the countryside, in close contact with the children of the soil.
• The Monthly ‘Sadhana’ was founded by him in 1891. The ‘Sadhana’ phase was also a phase of constructive nationalism for Rabindranath. At a public meeting presided over by Bankimchandra Chatterji, he read out a well argued political essay on ‘Ingraj O Bharatbasi’. He advocated widespread use of the mother-tongue as a medium of education and described ‘self help’ and ‘self respect’ as the backbone of ‘Swadeshism’. On the other hand, he invoked India’s history and legends in the poems of ‘Katha Kahini’ to inculcate patriotic and national sentiments. When the Viceroy proposed vivisection of Bengal, Rabindranath came out of his seclusion at Santiniketan to lend his powerful voice on behalf of the nation against this act of high-handedness. He preached swadeshi, composed heart stirring swadeshi songs, wrote trenchant essays, addressed meetings and even headed protest demonstrations. His reminiscences were serialized in the ‘prabasi’ and the original Bengali poems of ‘Gitanjali’ and the play ‘Dakghar’ were published the same year.
• In 1912 he read at Overtoun Hall his famous essay, ‘My Interpretation of India’s History’, wherein he gave a prose paraphrase as it were of his ‘Jana Gana Mana’ song, now the National song of India, earlier composed for the anniversary of the Brahmo Samaj, proclaiming that India stood for unity in the midst of diversity. The Swedish Academy selected ‘Gitanjali’ for the Nobel Award in Literature for 1913. In 1915 he was knighted by the King-Emperor. The same year, Tagore and Gandhiji met for the first time at Santiniketan.
• In 1918, the foundation was laid at Santiniketan of the Institution which came to be known as the ‘Visva Bharti’ World University. During the next two years 1919-20, Rabindranath travelled all over India inviting support for the Visva Bharti. In 1919, he relinquished his knighthood as a protest against the British atrocities at Jallianwala Bagh in the Punjab.
• On 7 August, 1940, on behalf of Oxford University, Sir Maurice Gwyer conferred its doctorate on Rabindranath at a special Convocation arranged at Santiniketan. Although his literary work continued till the end, by the beginning of 1941, his chronic kidney trouble started causing continuous trouble. On 14 April, when his 80^th birthday was celebrated at Santiniketan on the Bengali New Year’s Day, he questioned the British intention towards India’s struggle for independence in a trenchant address entitled “Crisis in Civilisation”. On 7 August 1941 he passed away in Calcutta after a surgical operation.
• Source: Dictionary of National Biography.
• Editor: S.P. Sen

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Issued by Vietnam

Issued on Sep 20, 1982

Issued to Commemorate Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), Indian poet.

Picture : A Portrait of the Poet, Rabindranath Tagore

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Watermark : No

Colour : Multicolored

Denomination : 30 xu (cents)

Name : Rabīndranātha Thākura

Born on May 7, 1861 at Kolkata, India

Died on Aug 7, 1941 at Kolkata, India

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Issued by India

Issued on Mar 23, 1978

Issued for : The Indian Posts and Telegraphs Department is happy to bring out a series of four special postage stamps on Modern Indian Paintings.

Description of Design :
The paintings depicted are :–
(1) “Two Vaishnavas“ by Jamini Roy (25 P)
(2) “The Mosque“ by Sailoz Mookherjea (50 P)
(3) “Head“ by Rabindranath Tagore (100 P)
(4) “Hill Women“ by Amrita Sher Gil (200 P)

The design of the First Day Cover depicts the painting titled ‘Words and Symbols‘ by K.C.S. Panicker. (Courtesy: National Gallery of Modern Art.)

Type : Stamps, Postal Used

Colour : Multicolour

Denomination : 25, 50, 100 & 200 Paise

Overall size : 4.82 x 4.06 cms.

Printing size : 4.44 x 3.66 cms.

Perforation : 14 x 14

Watermark : Unwatermarked paper

Number printed :
25 P. : 50,00,000
50 P. : 30,00,000
100 P. : 20,00,000
200 P. : 20,00,000

Number per issue sheet : 50

Printing Process : Photogravure

Designed and printed at : India Security Press

About : 

• Against the background of over 5,000 years of Indian artistic tradition, the history of contemporary Indian art may seem but a fraction. Nonetheless, its development is spectacular despite many vicissitudes. It is generally accepted that the image of contemporary Indian art has substantially acquired its characteristics during the post-Independence period, although one may trace its origin to the earlier years of the century against the chequered backdrop of Abanindranath Tagore and the Indian renaissance, Ravi Varma and his like – the academic realists in the Western manner – and the Company School which filled the scene following the decline of the Indian miniature tradition.
• Contemporary Indian art is distinguished by a plurality of expression that may baffle one initially, but will sort itself out with familiarity and careful study. Basically, the contemporary Indian artist shares the tremendous spirit of adventure and freedom of artistic expression with his counterparts the world over and with this an eclectic approach to technical problems and the high degree of individualism which is perhaps the most significant gift of the modern age.
• The pioneers such as Rabindranath Tagore, Abanindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, Jamini Roy, and Amrita Sher Gil are already legend. Those who have come after them and who have made a significant contribution are not numerous, but quite substantial. The search and experiment is still on. And there is more than a sign of the coming of age of the contemporary artist.
• Jamini Roy (1887-1972)
  • He was born in 1887 in Bankura district, West Bengal. He joined the Government School of Arts and Crafts, Calcutta in 1903. Jamini Roy was awarded Padma Bhushan in 1955 and became Fellow of the Lalit Kala Akademi in 1956. He received Hon. D. Litt. in 1967. Jamini Roy is quite a phenomenon in contemporary Indian art. He will always be remembered for his outstanding contribution as an artist who gave not only a new life in his work to folk and indigenous arts but inspired several artists to take a deeper interest in the unsophisticated people and their art. His own work is exemplary in this regard has earned for him the position of a pioneer. He died in 1972.
• Sailoz Mookherjea (1907-1960)
  • He studied art in Calcutta and had his first One-Man Show in 1937. Sailoz Mookherjea travelled in Europe in 1937-38, after on, in Sikkim and Tibet. He came to Delhi in 1945. Sailoz exhibited extensively winning several awards and prizes. Both as a painter and as a man he won the heart of many an artist and became a father figure. His work was deeply inspired by people and the environment. Despite his eclecticism, he always remained at once both personal and universal.
• Amrita Sher Gil (1913-1941)
  • Amrita Sher Gil was born of a Hungarian mother and Indian father. She was educated in India till she left for Paris in 1929 and joined the Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts. She was deeply stirred by the Post-Impressionist Cezanne and Gauguin in particular. Irrespective of the excellence of some of her earlier works, Sher Gil will be principally remembered for her later work which is deeply inspired by Indian people and landscape. The major portion of her work is now permanently housed in the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.
• Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)
  • Rabindranath Tagore was sixty-seven years of age when he started painting in 1928. Between then and 1941 he produced some 2000 paintings. The National Gallery of Modern Art has devoted a special section to his work. Most of his paintings are done with inks, crayons and gouache colours on paper. His unorthodox ways as an artists opened new vistas to younger artists. His disregard for literary content and his reliance on the unconscious contributed likewise to a radical change in the general outlook of art.
• Text : S.A. Krishnan

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Issued by India

Issued on Dec 24, 1971

Issued for : The Visva-Bharati completed 50 years of its very useful service to the nation in 1971. The P&T Department feel privileged in commemorating the Golden Jubilee of this national institution by bringing out a special postage stamp to mark the occasion.

Description of Design : The design of the stamp is horizontal and depicts a portrait of Rabindranath Tagore on the left and the Visva-Bharati building on the right hand side of the portrait.

The design of the stamp is adapted from the original prepared by Shri Charanjit Lal, Artist, P&T Directorate, New Delhi.

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Burnt Sienna & J B A’s Brown

Denomination : 20 Paise

Overall Size : 4.06 X 2.28 cms.

Printing Size : 3.80 X 2.0 cms.

Perforation : 14 x 14½

Watermark : Printed on unwatermarked adhesive stamp paper

Number Printed : 30,00,000

Number per issue sheet : 50

Printing Process : Photogravure

Designed and Printed at : India Security Press

About : 

• Visva-Bharati, the internationally famous seat of learning founded by Rabindranath Tagore, grew out of the Santiniketan Asrama founded in 1863 by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, father of Rabindranath Tagore. In December 1901, an experimental school was started here by Rabindranath Tagore with only 5 students on the roll, mainly, as a result of his reaction against the joyless, mechanical system of education then prevailing in the country. The Government of the time was positively hostile to the institution and the school was never in a very flourishing condition financially. Nevertheless, the school was kept going mainly by efforts put in by a band of devoted workers who had gathered around Rabindranath. It was about the year 1912 Rabindranath was fortunate in securing the services of C. F. Andrews and W. W. Pearson who came to Santiniketan to share his work. For a short time even Mahatma Gandhi had made Santiniketan his home along with the students of his Phoenix School. However, in later years his other pre-occupations did not permit his being actively associated with Santiniketan even though Santiniketan always remained dear to his heart.
• After his tour of Japan and America, in December 1918, Rabindranath Tagore began to actively pursue the idea of creating an institution at Santiniketan which would be a true centre for all the different cultures of the East. He received the most warm and sincere cooperation from his colleagues in this endeavour. The name ‘Visva-Bharati’ came into existence at about this time and its motto – Yatra Visvam Bhavatyekanidam “Where the world makes its home in a single nest” was chosen. From 1919 arrangements were made at Visva-Bharati for providing courses of higher studies in Buddhist Literature, Vedic and Classical Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit etc. Art and Music occupied an important place in Rabindranath‘s system of education. The art section was fortunate to have the guidance of the renowned Nandalal Bose.
• The formal inauguration of Visva-Bharati took place in December 1921. As Rabindranath has put it; “Visva-Bharati represents India where she has her wealth of mind which is for all. Visva-Bharati acknowledges India‘s obligations to offer to others the hospitality of her best culture and India‘s right to accept from others their best.” Visva-Bharati soon became alive with various activities. A number of distinguished educationists and scholars flocked to this place from various countries abroad and from various parts of India. The practical idealism of Rabindranath also found shape here in the Institute of Rural Reconstruction which he established at Sriniketan about a mile from Santiniketan.
• After the death of its founder in 1941, Visva-Bharati had a difficult period for sometime. Abanindranath Tagore, the renowned artist, held the reins of the institution for some years, in spite of his failing health. After Abanindranath Tagore, Srimati Sarojini Naidu, the eminent poetess of India held the office of Acharya of the Visva-Bharati till her death. Shri Jawaharlal Nehru was then elected the Acharya of Visva-Bharati.
• Considering the importance of the institution, the Indian Parliament declared Visva-Bharati in May 1951 to be an institution of national importance and it was incorporated as a residential university by an Act of the Parliament and Shri Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Chancellor of the University.

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Issued by Romania

Issued on Oct 25, 1961

Issued for : Protraits of Some of the Great Personalities of the World

Picture : 10 b – Heraclitus, 20 b – Francis Bacon, 40 b – Rabindranath Tagore, 55 b – Domingo F. Sarmiento, 1.35 l – Heinrich von Kleist and 1.75 l – Mikhail V. Lomonosov.

Colour : 10 b – Maroon, 20 b – Brown, 40 b – Prussian Green, 55 b – Cerise, 1.35 l – Bright Blue and 1.75 l – Purple.

Type : Stamps, Postal Used

Watermark : Yes [RPR Multiple in Endless Rows]

Denomination : 10, 20, 40 & 55 Bani and 1.35 & 1.75 Lei

Printing Process : Photographed

Perforation : 13½ x 13

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Issued by Argentina

Issued on May 13, 1961

Issued to Commemorate the Centenary of the birth of Rabindranath Tagore, Indian poet.

Picture : A Portrait of the Poet, Rabindranath Tagore

Type : Postal Used

Watermark : No

Colour : Grayish Purple

Denomination : 2 peso

Perforation : 13½

Printing Process : Photogravure

Name : Rabīndranātha Thākura

Born on May 7, 1861 at Kolkata, India

Died on Aug 7, 1941 at Kolkata, India

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