Issued by India

Issued on Dec 27, 2023

Issued for : Department of Posts is delighted to issue Commemorative Postage Stamp on 125 Years of Ramakrishna Mission and appreciates its contribution in promoting spirituality, service and humanity, all over the world.

Credits :
Stamp/FDC/Brochure : Shri Suresh Kumar
Cancellation Cachet : Smt. Nenu Gupta

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi Colour

Denomination : 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 201600

Printing Process : Wet Offset

Printer : Security Printing Press, Hyderabad

About : 

• 1 May 2022 marked the 125^th anniversary of the Ramakrishna Mission, a social service organization with a spiritual outlook. It was founded in 1897 by Swami Vivekananda, the seer of modern India, to work for the all-round development of India.
• Swami Vivekananda, known in his pre-monastic life as Narendra Nath Datta, was born in an affluent family in Kolkata on 12 January 1863. By the time he graduated from Calcutta University, he had acquired a vast knowledge of different subjects, especially Western philosophy and history. Born with a yogic temperament, he used to practise meditation even from his boyhood, and was associated with Brahmo Movement for some time.
• In November 1881, Narendra went to meet Sri Ramakrishna, his spiritual guru, who was staying at the Kali Temple in Dakshineshwar. Apart from removing doubts from the mind of Narendra, Sri Ramakrishna won him over through his pure, unselfish love. Thus began a guru-disciple relationship which is quite unique in the history of spiritual masters.
• During his travels all over India, Swami Vivekananda was deeply moved to see the appalling poverty and backwardness of the masses. To carry out his plans for the spread of education and for the uplift of the poor masses, and of women, Swami Vivekanand, felt the need of an efficient organization of dedicated people. He wanted “to set in motion a machinery which will bring noblest ideas to the doorstep of even the poorest and the meanest.” It was to serve as this ‘machinery’ that Swami Vivekanand founded the Ramakrishna Mission in the year 1897. It was registered as a society in 1909.
• For the last 125 years, the Ramakrishna Mission has distinguished itself through its various service based programmes. It extends service in the areas of healthcare, education, rural and tribal development, disaster relief and rehabilitation, general welfare, spiritual and cultural work, publication of books and journals and other fields. It runs hospitals, dispensaries, homes for the aged, orphanages, schools, colleges, polytechnics, ITIs, a deemed university, agricultural institutes, and special institutions for the disadvantaged sections of society. It’s charitable and philanthropic works have found wide acceptance and appreciation by the public.
• Members of the mission provide services to the people as means to the attainment of the ultimate goal of human life, which, according to Sri Ramakrishna, is realization of God. Here charity to the poor and needy is prompted not by egotistic compassion, but is conceived as service rendered in a spirit of worship of God, who resides in every human being. Instead of looking upon a needy person as an object of pity, he is looked upon as an object of worship. Owing to this spiritual outlook, the services conducted by the mission are meant for the benefit of all people – without any distinction based on religion, caste, colour or class.
• The main workforce of the Ramakrishna Mission consists of dedicated monks who are members of the Ramakrishna Math. Though the Mission and the math are distinct legal entities, they are referred to as twin organizations, and they join hands in running all the service activities. As of February 2023, there are 202 branches of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, spread over 27 states / Union Territories of India. Outside India, the organization has 67 branches in 24 countries. The headquarters of the twin organizations is located at Belur Math in Howrah district, West Bengal.
• Perfect accountability, efficient management, and sincere and honest enterprise are some of the hallmarks of the work of the Ramakrishna Mission. The Mission has received several awards and recognitions for its selfless service, including the prestigious Gandhi Peace prize for the year 1998, conferred by the Government of India. The prize carried a citation that noted, “The Ramakrishna Mission has become a great source for peace and happiness amongst people in this country and abroad.”
• The motto of Ramakrishna Mission, set by Swami Vivekananda, is “For one’s own salvation and for the welfare of the world.” Endowed with this lofty ideal and sustained by the dedication of its members, the Ramakrishna Mission is expanding its influence with time.125 Years is a significant milestone in the Mission’s journey to bring about spiritual regeneration of humanity.
• Text : Referenced from content provided by Proponent.

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Issued by India

Issued on Sep 15, 2018

Issued for : Department of Posts is pleased to release a set of two Commemorative Postage Stamps between India and Serbia on the theme “70 years of Diplomatic Relations between India and Serbia” featuring ‘Swami Vivekananda’ of India and ‘Nikola Tesla’ of Serbia.

Credits :
Stamps/Miniature Sheet/FDC/Brochure : Ms. Gulistaan
Cancellation Cachet : Smt. Alka Sharma

Type : Miniature Sheet, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi Colour

Denomination : 2500, 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 500000 each

Miniature Sheet Printed : 1.1 lakh

Printing Process : Wet Offset

Printer : Security Printing Press, Hyderabad

Name : Narendranath Datta

Born on 12 Jan, 1863 at Kolkata, India

Died on 4 Jul, 1902 at Belur, Howrah district, West Bengal, India

Name : Nikola Tesla

Born on 27 Oct, 1917 at Smiljan, Austrian Empire [now Croatia]

Died on 7 Jan, 1943 at New York City, United States

About : 

• The year 2018 marks 70 years of the diplomatic relations between India and Serbia (formerly Yugoslavia) which were established on 5 September, 1948. Both the countries have traditionally enjoyed deep friendship as co-founders of the Non-Aligned Movement. Despite the breakup of former Yugoslavia, the tradition of mutual support on issues of core interest continues. The relationship has been energized with high level visits in the recent past.
• The regular high level visits between the two countries have provided the desired impetus for a multi-sectoral partnership. Both sides agree on the need to promote economic cooperation, especially in the fields of food production, agriculture, defence, pharmaceuticals, health and tourism. MoU on Cooperation in the field of IT & Electronics and comprehensive bilateral Agreement on Cooperation in the fields of culture, arts, youth, sports and mass media have been signed between the two countries. Existing agreements include Bilateral Investment Promotion & Protection Agreement (BIPPA), Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC), Trade Agreement (MFN) and Tourism Cooperation Agreement. Air Services Agreement has been revised. MoU on Archival Cooperation was signed in October 2017.
• As per Serbian state statistics, bilateral trade of US$ 198.5 million in 2017 registered an increase of 39% as compared to 2016 with Indian exports worth US$ 187.6 million and imports US$ 10.9 million. The main items of exports from India were pharmaceuticals & chemical products, products of iron & steel, coffee/sesame seeds and food products, textile yarn, garments & footwear, industrial machinery. Main items of export from Serbia were raw silver, PC storage units, industrial machinery, chemicals and tobacco.
• Around 150 Serbian professionals have undergone training in India including in IT, telecommunications, WTO, English language, SMEs, management, finance, textiles, rural development, environment, Yoga, etc.
• Serbia is a culturally vibrant country with high regard for Indian culture and heritage. Indian cultural groups continue to be popular in Serbia. Yoga and Ayurveda are recognized in Serbian law. The national broadcaster Radio & Television of Serbia (RTS) regularly telecasts Indian documentaries. The first India-Serbia joint production ‘Dev Bhoomi’ by renowned Serbian Director Goran Paskaljevic was shot in Uttarakhand with Indian starcast.
• SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
  • Swami Vivekananda, original name Narendranath Datta, was born on 12 January, 1863 was a Hindu spiritual leader and reformer. Born into an aristocratic Bengali family of Calcutta, Vivekananda was inclined towards spirituality. He was influenced by his guru, Ramakrishna, from whom he learnt that all living beings were an embodiment of the divine self; therefore, service to God could be rendered by service to mankind. After Ramakrishna’s death, Vivekananda toured the Indian subcontinent extensively and acquired first-hand knowledge of the conditions prevailing in British India.
  • Swami Vivekananda leapt into fame at the World Parliament of Religions held at Chicago in 1893, at which he represented Hinduism. His vast knowledge of Eastern and Western cultures as well as his deep spiritual insight, fervid eloquence, brilliant conversation and compassion for human kind made an irresistible appeal to the people who came in contact with him. The year 2018 marks the 125^th Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s address at the World Parliament of Religions at Chicago.
  • The Swami’s mission was both national and international. A lover of mankind, he strove to promote peace and brotherhood on the spiritual foundation of the Vedantic Oneness of existence. A mystic on the highest order, Vivekananda had a direct and intuitive experience of Reality.
  • He delivered innumerable lectures, wrote inspired letters in his own hand to his many friends and disciples, composed numerous poems, and acted as spiritual guide to the many seekers, who came to him for instruction. He also organized the Ramakrishna Order of monks, which is the most outstanding religious organization of modern India. Swami Vivekananda passed away on 4 July, 1902 near Calcutta.
• NIKOLA TESLA
  • Nikola Tesla (Smiljan, 1856 – New York, 1943), was one of the greatest Serbian scientists in the area of electrical engineering, telecommunications, robotics and physics. He is the author of more than 700 patents and some of his most important inventions are polyphase system, rotating magnetic field, asynchronous motor, synchronous generator and high voltage AC transformer. Tesla also invented a special way for generating high frequency current and gave a significant contribution to the transfer and modulation of radio-signals, as well as in the area of X-rays.
  • Nikola Tesla is the only Serb who gave his name to an international measurement unit. General Conference on Weights and Measures in Paris in 1960 decided that the symbol T and the name “tesla” should be used as a measurement unit for magnetic flux density.
  • Tesla and Vivekananda met in New York during Vivekananda’s series of lectures on Vedic philosophy. According to the testimony of the contemporaries, they met through the famous French actress Sarah Bernhardt. In several letters during 1895, Vivekananda mentioned that he recognised Vedic cosmogony in Tesla’s scientific work.
  • The stamp with the image of Nikola Tesla symbolically represents the connection of his inventions and the Divine source of all scientific ideas.
• Text : Based on the information received from Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, Serbia Post and internet sources.

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Issued by India

Issued on Jan 12, 2013

Issued for : The Department of Posts is privileged to issue a set of four Commemorative Postage Stamps and a sheetlet depicting various milestones of the life of Swami Vivekanand to commemorate his 150^th anniversary.

Credits :
Stamp/FDC : Sankha Samanta
Cancellation : 

Nenu Gupta

Type : Sheetlet, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 2000, 500, 500 & 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 0.21 Million Each

Sheetlet : 0.11 Million

Printing Process : Wet Offset

Printer : Security Printing Press, Hyderabad

Name : Narendra Nath Datta

Born on Jan 12, 1863 at Kolkata, West Bengal, India 

Died on Jul 4, 1902 at Belur, West Bengal, India

About : 

• Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), one of the tallest spiritual leaders of modern India, strove to promote peace, well-being and brotherhood among all humanity.
  
• Born as Narendra Nath Datta, his intellectual brilliance was evident right from childhood. He excelled in music, gymnastics and studies. Narendra, at the threshold of youth, was given to spiritual enquiries, and this led him to the well-known mystic Sri Ramakrishna of Dakshineshwar. A unique teacher-disciple relationship developed between them and, under the guidance of the master, Narendra made rapid strides along the spiritual path.
  
• Distress visited young Narendra to test him. The sudden death of his father in 1884 left the family penniless, followed by the illness of Sri Ramakrishna which was diagnosed to be cancer of the throat. He faced the challenges stoically and courageously and led a group of young disciples in nursing the Master with devoted care. Sri Ramakrishna passed away in 1886. After the Master’s passing, fifteen of his young disciples formed a new monastic brotherhood under the leadership of Narendra. Subsequently, Narendra assumed the name Swami Vivekananda.
  
• In the middle of 1890, after considerable thought, Swami Vivekananda left his math and embarked on a long journey of exploration of India, with the objective of taking the message of Sri Ramakrishna, whom he considered the prophet of the present age, far and wide. During his travels around India, Swami Vivekananda was deeply moved to see the appalling poverty and backwardness of the common people. He understood that the root cause of poverty was that the downtrodden masses, owing to centuries of oppression, had lost faith in their capacity to improve their lot. The urgent requirement was to infuse faith in themselves into their minds. For this, they needed an inspiring and a life-giving message. Swamiji found this message in the principle of the atman, the doctrine of the potential divinity of the soul, taught in Vedanta. The common folk needed to be taught how to apply the ennobling principles of Vedanta in practical life. The medium to spread this knowledge had to be education, and an efficient organization of dedicated people was needed to accomplish this.
  
• In the course of his wanderings Swami Vivekananda heard about the World’s Parliament of Religions to be held in Chicago in 1893. He felt that it would provide the right forum to present Sri Ramakrishna’s message to the world, and decided to participate. His speeches at the Parliament of Religions held in September 1893 made him famous as ‘Messenger of Indian wisdom to the Western world’. After the Parliament, Swamiji spent nearly three and a half years spreading Vedanta as lived and taught by Sri Ramakrishna, in the USA and England.
  
• After his return to India in 1897, he delivered a series of inspiring lectures in different places which attempted to create pride in our cultural heritage and roused the spiritual and religious consciousness of the people. The objective of the lectures was also to focus the attention of educated people on the plight of the downtrodden masses, and to expound his plan for their upliftment by the application of the principles of practical Vedanta.
  
• Swami Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Mission in May 1897, a unique organization in which monks and lay people jointly undertake propagation of practical Vedanta. The activities include various forms of social service, such as running hospitals, schools and rural development centres, and conducting relief and rehabilitation work for victims of earthquakes, cyclones and other calamities, in different parts of India and other countries. In 1898, Swamiji set up a permanent abode for the monastery and monastic Order at Belur on the western bank of Ganga. Here Swamiji adapted ancient monastic ideals to the conditions of modern life, giving equal importance to personal illumination and social service.
  
• A second journey to the West in 1899 and the many lectures delivered there led to Swamiji’s stature as a leading spiritual guide of the modern times being re-inforced. Incessant work, especially giving lectures and interacting with thousands of people, told upon Swamiji’s health. His health deteriorated and the end came quietly on the night of 4^th July, 1902 at the Belur math.
  
• Text : P.N. Ranjit Kumar (Based on material furnished by the proponent).

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Issued by India

Issued on Dec 14, 2008

Issued for : India Post is proud to release commemorative postage stamp on Indian Institute of Science.

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

Type : Miniature Sheet, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 500 & 2000 Paise

Stamps Printed : 1.5 Million each

Miniature Sheets : 0.2 Million

Printing Process : Photogravure

Printer : India Security Press, Nasik

About : 

• The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) was conceived as a ‘Research Institute’ or ‘University of Research’ by Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, towards the end of the 19^th century. It took thirteen long years from initial conception in 1896 to the birth of the institution on May 27, 1909.
  
• The early history of the Institute is a fascinating chapter in the story of higher education and scientific research in India, which led to the establishment of the Institute includes, charismatic and generous founder J.N. Tata, Swami Vivekananda, the Maharaja of Mysore, Shri Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV and his mother then acting on his behalf, and Lord Curzon the Viceroy of India, whose first task on arrival on December 31, 1898 was to receive a draft proposal prepared by the Provisional Committee set up to plan the establishment of the Institute. The British Government finally issued the Vesting Order in 1909, an unmatched experiment in higher education and research was launched in India. IISc is truly the first example of a public private partnership in this country; an institution, whose evolution over a century is testimony to the robustness of its foundations.
  
• The Institute occupies nearly 400 acres of prime land in Bangalore, generously donated by the Maharaja of Mysore in March 1907. Indeed, the contribution from the princely state of Mysore was the decisive element in determining the location of J.N. Tata’s proposed institution. J.N. Tata did not wish his name to be associated with the Institute, his dream was to create an institution that would contribute to the development of India. The name, Indian Institute of Science, which was finally chosen, reflects in every way the wishes of J.N. Tata.
  
• The Institute began with only two departments General and Applied Chemistry and Electro-Technology. The Departments of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry were among the earliest to be established. The Physics department came into being in 1933, when C.V. Raman became the first Indian Director of the Institute. In the century that has passed since its inception, IISc has grown to become India’s premier centre for research and postgraduate education in science and engineering. The evolution of the Institute over the past one hundred years has mirrored the development of science and technology in India.
  
• As the Institute has grown, several new areas of research have been established. The Institute’s departments in field ranging from Biochemistry to Aerospace Engineering have served to nucleate research and development in both the public and private sectors. The faculty and alumni of the Institute have been responsible for establishing and spearheading many new institutions and programs across the country. Homi Bhabha conceived the idea of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and Atomic Energy Program while working in the Department of Physics. Vikram Sarabhai, the founder of India’s space program was an alumnus. Following his premature death, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was built by the farsight leadership of Satish Dhawan, who simultaneously held the position of the Director of the Institute with the greatest distinction. The first Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Kharagpur was established by J.C. Ghosh, who was the Director of IISc in the critical period 1939-48, during which much of the activity in engineering was initiated at the Institute. Many of India’s most distinguished scientists have been associated with the Institute as students or faculty. Notable among them are G.N. Ramachandran, Harish Chandra, S. Ramaseshan, A. Ramachandran, C.N.R. Rao and R. Narasimha. Alumni of the Institute head many major organizations in India and abroad.
  
• The Institute offers a variety of Master’s degree programs in Engineering, an integrated (post-B.Sc.) program in science and Ph.D. programs in a wide spectrum of disciplines in science and engineering. The research laboratories at the Institute are well equipped. Many national facilities are housed at the Institute. The library and computational facilities at the Institute are amongst the best in India.
  
• The face of science and engineering research has been changing very rapidly over the past few years. Many new activities have been initiated. Notable among them are the interdisciplinary Ph.D. programs in Mathematical Science, Chemical Biology, Earth System Science, Nanoscience and Nanotechnology and Nanoengineering for Integrated Systems. An M. Tech program in Climate Science has also been introduced. A new Centre for Earth Sciences has been established.
  
• In reflecting on the past, present and future of the Institute, in this Centenary Year, an exchange between Morris Travers, the first Director, and Lord Willingdon went around the Institute in June 1914 and said : “I had no idea that there was anything like this in India”. Travers responded : “There is nothing like it in India; and nothing better in Great Britain”.
  
• Text : Based on material given by the proponent.

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Issued by Sri Lanka

Issued on Jan 15, 1997

Issued for : The Philatelic Bureau of the Department of Posts will issue a Postage stamp in the denomination of Rs. 2.50 on 15^th January, 1997 to commemorate the 100^th Anniversary of the Visit of Swami Vivekananda to Sri Lanka.

Design : Portrait & Globe

Format : Vertical

Designer : S. S. Silva

Type : Stamp, Mint condition

Denomination : Rs. 2.50

Colours (used) : 4 Process Colours

Stamp size : 40 x 30 mm

Perforation : 13½

Gum : Tropical

Quantity printed : 1,000,000

Sheet Composition : 50 Stamps per sheet

Printing process : Offset Lithography

Printers : Oriental Press – Bharain

Name : Narendranath Datta

Born on Jan 12, 1863 at Calcutta, British India [now Kolkata]

Died on Jul 4, 1902 at Belur Math, Bengal Presidency, British Raj

About : 

• Swami Vivekananda was born in Calcutta on 12^th January, 1863. As a child he had an inquiring mind and exhibited great qualities of leadership. At the threshold of youth, while passing through a period of spiritual crisis, he met his great spiritual Master, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, who was an embodiment of the spiritual treasures of all the major religions of the World. It was this spiritual giant who shaped Swami Vivekananda into a Universal Man, a spiritual colossus, with his heart embracing the whole humanity.
• Swami Vivekananda’s famous speech at the World’s Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893, has gone into the annals of history as the trend-setter for world peace and inter-religious harmony.
• Swami Vivekananda was a bridge between the ancient and the modern, between the East and the West. In his scheme of life, there is no conflict between faith and reason, between religion and science, between action and contemplation, between sacred and secular. He warned man-making and character-building religion. He emphasized education to be oriented to acquiring strength of mind than be mere book learning. In him everything was positive, nothing negative.
• Swami Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897, with the noble ideal of service to humanity irrespective of caste, creed and colour. Today the mission has branches all over the world including the one in Sri Lanka.
• Swami Vivekananda visited Sri Lanka on 15^th January, 1897, on his way back to India after his triumphal visit to the West. The centenary of his visit to Sri Lanka is a reminder to us that in this increasingly inter-depender world, we should treat each other as brothers and sisters and live in harmony.
• Swami Vivekananda entered into eternal peace in 1902.

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Issued by India

Issued on Dec 26, 1996

Issued for : The Department of Post today, on the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, issues a commemorative postage stamp on the Vivekananda Rock Memorial, Kanyakumari as it celebrates its 25^th anniversary.

Design : The stamp depicts the Memorial; the first day cover is a view of the Sabha Mandapam and the cancellation is a line drawing of the Sripada Mandapam.

Courtesy :
Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari.
Stamp : Shri Sankha Samanta
Cancellation : Smt. Alka Sharma

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Colour : Multi Colour

Denomination : 500 Paise

Overall size : 2.90 X 7.82 cms.

Printing size : 2.55 X 7.45 cms.

Perforation : 13.5 x 13.5

Paper : Matt Chromo

Number of stamps Printed : 1 million

Number per issue sheet : 20

Printing Process : Photo Offset

Printer : Calcutta Security Printers Limited, Kanpur

About : 

• The Rock Memorial, Kanyakumari is one of the most glorious national monuments of our country. It symbolises the spirit of India, unique and magnificent, a confluence of cultures, religions and societies. It also epitomizes the awakening of a mind, a spirit and a nation. It is a tribute to a visionary who saw that :
  “India will be raised, not with the power of the flesh, but with the power of the spirit…… One vision I see clear as life before me, that the ancient Mother has awakened once more, sitting on her throne rejuvenated, more glorious than ever. Proclaim her to all the world with the voice of peace and benediction.”
• Swami Vivekananda had swum across the channel of about 450 yards to meditate on this rock. Here, surrounded by the oceans, their silence and their sounds, his troubled heart saw the mission of his life before him, the awakening of the Indian masses and the emerging significance of India in the world community. Sri Eknath Ranade gave shape to this embodiment of India’s progressive spirit as a singular tribute to Swami Vivekananda. At Kanyakumari, the Monk was transformed into a nation builder who carried the message of India’s spiritual consciousness across the world with the historic address at the Parliament of Religions at Chicago on 11.9.1893.
• Rising out of the ocean today the Memorial stands at the southern tip of India in memory of this great Indian and his vision. Built by the Vivekananda Rock Memorial Committee, the work on this monument started on 6.11.64 and took about six years to complete. It was consecrated on 2.9.70 by Srimad Swami Visveswarananda, President of the Ramakrishna Math & Mission and inaugurated the same day by the then President of India, Shri V. V. Giri. Financial assistance from the Central Government and from every state and from individuals across the country set up this remarkable Memorial.
• The Memorial consists of two Mandapams, facing each other : the Vivekananda Mandapam and the Sripada Mandapam. The former has a Meditation Hall and an Assembly Hall dominated by an imposing statue of Swami Vivekananda. The latter houses the sanctum sanctorum built over the “Sripadam”, the footprint of Kanyakumari, to protect it from weathering. The entire structure is enclosed by the delicate tracery of the Pradakshina Patha (circular path).
• The Memorial is not merely a building of stone and mortar, but a throbbing living tribute which continues to provide a dynamic thrust to the Vivekananda Kendra. This organisation has translated Swamiji’s message of “Service to Humanity is true worship of God” into action. Today, a Lay order of dedicated and trained life workers, both men and women have been deployed all over the country. They specially serve the poor in the economically backward areas, spreading education, rural development, utilisation of natural resources, health awareness and propagating yoga as a way of life.

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Issued by India

Issued on Sep 11, 1993

Issued for : The Department of Posts pays its homage to Swami Vivekananda by issuing a postage stamp to commemorate the centenary of his historic Chicage address.

Design : The stamp depicts Swami Vivekananda against the background of the Art Institute building at Chicago where the speech was delivered. It was in the Institute’s great Hall of Columbus that the delegates of the Parliament gathered on the memorable morning of September 1893.

The first day cover depicts Swami Vivekananda in meditation and also a famous line from the address.

Design Credits :
Stamp & F.D.C.: C.R. Pakrashi
Cancellation : Smt. Alka Sharma, Artist, Department of Posts

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Colour : Multi Colour

Denomination : 200 Paise

Overall size : 3.91 x 2.90 cms.

Printing size : 3.55 x 2.54 cms.

Perforation : 13 x 13

Paper : Imported Un W/M adhesive gravure coated Stamp Paper in sheets of 50.8 x 53.5 cms.

Number of stamps Printed : 0.6 million

Number per issue sheet : 35

Printing Process : Photogravure

Printer : India Security Press

Name : Narendranath Datta

Born on Jan 12, 1863 at Calcutta, India

Died on Jul 4, 1902 at Belur Math, Bengal Presidency, British India [now in Belur, West Bengal, India]

About : 

• Referring to this address, the New York Herald wrote: “He is undoubtedly the greatest figure in the Parliament of Religions.“ Such was the impact of the Swami‘s performance that his life-size portraits were posted in the streets of Chicago and passers-by bowed in reverence.
• Swami Vivekananda in his address at Chicago laid stress on three fundamentals of religion, namely, direct communication with the Divine, the incapacity of the human mind to fathom the depth of the Divine and an attitude of compassion. Swami Vivekananda affirmed with great eloquence that Indian spiritualism does not accept any religion which does not believe in service to the humanity. Religion, he said, develops the divine possibility which is in all of us. It is this spiritualism which was expressed in the songs of our devotees, the philosophies of our seers and the prayers of our common people in India through out the ages.
• It is a sweet irony of history that even as Swami Vivekananda introduced Indian spiritualism to the West, America helped India to recognise the greatness of her own young and vibrant monk then not so well known in his own country. His address at Chicago kindled a surge of re-awakening in India. The urge to rediscover the foundations of their own age-old spiritualism invaded the Indian minds and secondly it led to a powerful re-affirmation of the ancient Indian reverence for asceticism and monasticism infused with a new feeling for humanitarianism and a zeal for missionary service.
• Swami Vivekananda at Chicago was described by Annie Besant thus “A striking figure, clad in yellow and orange, shining like the Sun of India.“ Referring to the Chicago voyage, Sri Aurobindo said “The going forth of Vivekananda was the first visible sign to the world that India was awake, not only to survive but to conquer.“

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Issued by India

Issued on Jan 17, 1963

Issued for : The Posts & Telegraphs Department feels privileged in bringing out a special postage stamp on January 17, 1963 commemorating the birth centenary of this great son of India.

Type : Stamp, Mint condition

Colour : Gold Green & Mineral Red

Denomination : 15 nP.

Size : 4.06 x 2.41 cms.

Perforation : 14½ x 14

Watermark : All over multiple ‘Lion Capital of Asoka’

Number of stamps printed : 2.5 million

Set : 45 stamps per issue sheet

Printing Process : Photogravure

Designed and Printed at : India Security Press, Nasik Road

Name : Narendra Nath Datta

Born on Jan 12, 1863 at Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India

Died on Jul 4, 1902 at Belur Math, Bengal Presidency, British India

About : 

• “Rooted in the past and full of pride in India’s heritage, Vivekananda was yet modern in his approach to life’s problems, and was a kind of bridge between her past and her present.” – The Discovery of India – Jawaharlal Nehru.
• Swami Vivekananda, whose birth centenary, according to Indian reckoning, falls on January 17, 1963, was a many-sided genius of extra-ordinary vigour and energy which sprang from his abundant spirituality. He was born on January 12, 1863, and passed away on July 4, 1902, when he was nearly 39. The first 19 years of his life were spent at home and at school and college; the next five years at the feet of his guru, Sri Ramakrishna. Later, for six years, he wandered round the country seeking intimate knowledge of his people. The remaining ten years constituted the period of his active ministration. In 1893, he went to America and, after many initial trials and hardships, got himself enrolled as a delegate to the Parliament of Religions through the help of kind and warm-hearted American friends. His very first speech before that august Assembly captured the mind and heart of the vast audience and, in fact, the whole American nation. The American papers proclaimed him as a prophet and seer. The New York Herald wrote: “He is undoubtedly the greatest figure in the Parliament of Religions……” For four years Vivekananda laboured hard in America, and for some time also in England, to spread among the Western people a knowledge of all aspects of Indian life and thought, ancient and modern, and to inspire them with the lofty and universal spirituality of the Vedanta. He established a permanent mission in New York and other centres for the continuance of his work and thus laid the firm foundation of a bridge of understanding between America and India. When back home in January 1897, he received a tumultuous national welcome. He took this opportunity to give his epoch-making message to his people. The lectures which he delivered all over the country, which were later published with the caption “Lectures from Colombo to Almora”, won for him – in the words of Romain Rolland – the following tribute:
  • “His words are great music, phrases in the style of Beethoven, stirring rhythms like the march of Handel choruses. I cannot touch these sayings of his, scattered as they are through the pages of books at thirty years’ distance, without receiving a thrill through my body like an electric shock. And what shocks, what transports must have been produced when in burning words they issued from the lips of the hero!”
• Apart from his lectures and writings, another gift of his to India and the world is the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission. The first is a monastic order consisting, originally, of the young disciples of his Master, Sri Ramakrishna and the second is a philanthropic, cultural and spiritual organisation of monks and laymen. Both are dedicated to the realization of spirituality through the service of man, irrespective of caste, creed, race and sect, under the inspiring motto coined by Vivekananda: ATMANO MOKSĀRTHAM JAGADDHITYĀ CHA – ‘For the freedom of the Self and welfare of the World’.

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