Gol Gumbaz and HSBC Building

Tags

Asia, buildings, China, India

Hello again readers, today I have two Postcrossing postcards to share with you.

The first comes from China in July 2013, and shows the headquarters of the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, the HSBC Building. The sender writes that this building was built a few hundred years ago, but was in fact built in the 1920s. With how slow time has been passing while our social distancing/stay at home order has been in place, the 1920s certainly feels like it could be a few hundred years ago.

The second card comes from India in October, 2013, and shows Gol Gumbaz, the mausoleum of Muhammad Adil Shah II, who ruled the Sultanate of Bijapur in the 17th century. Somehow, this postcard arrived to me without any stamps, but I don’t think it was sent in an envelope, because there are postmarks and a barcode printed on the card. Just, no stamps. Did they fall off in transit? Or were there never stamps on it and it got here anyway?

Seven Views of India

Tags

Asia, cities, India

I’ve been doing a very long (over a year now) swap with Georgy in India, who has been sending me some awesome views of India. Almost every card from India featured on the blog has come from him. And today I have seven more cards, showing many different scenes from life around India:

A cow and some movie posters.

UNESCO in India

Tags

Asia, India

I have done a terrible job of keeping up with my New Year’s resolution to post more. But now my finals are over (and my first year of law school, too!) and I am on a break for the summer. I should have more time now to keep up with the blog and bring you more postcards to share. Today I have three postcards from Georgy in India, all with the fantastic stamps that he collects:

This is a picture of the statue of Lord Bahubali in Shravanbelagola, India. This statue is one of the largest monolithic statues in the world, carved from a single piece of granite. It is 17 meters (55 feet) high and is visible from 30 kilometers away. The statue is located at a Jain temple and is an important pilgrimage destination for members of the Jain religion. The temple and statue are proposed UNESCO sites, but they haven’t been added to the list (yet).

This next card shows the Virupaksha Temple, which is a UNESCO site in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is part of the Group of Monuments at Hampi site. The temple is dedicated to Virupaksha, a form of the Hindu god Shiva. There has been a shrine at this site since the 7th century, but the temple was mostly built in the 14th century and then renovated and expanded in the 19th century.

And finally, my second Indian UNESCO postcard, this card shows the stone relief “Arjuna’s penance” or “Descent of the Ganges,” located at the Mahabalipuram UNESCO site in Tamil Nadu. The town of Mahabalipuram is an ancient seaport on the Bay of Bengal. The UNESCO site includes not only this stone relief, but also other temples and cave sanctuaries carved out of the solid granite surrounding the town.

And here are the stamps:

 

Indian houseboats

Tags

Asia, India

Georgy sent me these two neat cards of houseboats in Kerala, India:

Georgy writes that these houseboats are based in Allappuzha and that one can hire the boats out for rides up and down the river. From the postcards, that seems like a fantastic trip!

There are four new colorful stamps to share, too:

Thanks, Georgy!

Animals in India

Tags

Asia, India

Tonight I have two cards from Georgy in Kerala, India. He has some of the most delightful cards of India, and he always uses new and interesting stamps, too:

This is a bull, sacred to the Hindu faith. This bull has been elaborately decorated.

And this is an Indian (Bengal) tiger. There is a wildlife sanctuary near Georgy that has these tigers. These tigers are endangered species, with only a few thousand left in India. The tiger is India’s national animal.

Here are the stamps Georgy used:

A stamp from 2012, showing the Armed Forces Medical College.

A 2012 stamp commemorating the 1986 Consumer Protection Act.

A 2013 stamp of the legislature building in Uttar Pradesh.

And this 2013 stamp of the Mumbai General Post Office.

Thanks, Georgy!

Another Parade of Elephants

Tags

Africa, Asia, Europe, Germany, India, Poland, South Africa

If you’ve read very long on my blog, you will know that I love elephants and I love to get cards with elephants on them. I have 5 new cards with elephants to share today, and they come from senders on 3 different continents!

First is this card from Sylvia in Poland:

It is a baby Asian elephant! So cute! Sylvia used this neat Polish stamp:

Next is this Postcrosser’s card from Germany:

Here is the stamp from the card:

Then I received a card of an African elephant from Sandra in South Africa:

And lastly, these two elephant cards come from Georgy in India:

 

Georgy loves stamps, so he always uses a variety of interesting ones on the cards he sends. Here is what he used on the elephant cards:

So many elephants! It’s wonderful!

A Herd of Asian Elephants

Tags

Asia, India, Thailand

Today I have many views of elephants in India and also an elephant on my first card from Thailand!

The cards from India come from Georgy, who has been sending me many beautiful cards and stamps.

Some of the elephants in Georgy’s home state of Kerala are trained to do work for the people. Elephants are considered sacred and carry deities for temple festivals.

Here are some elephants who are elaborately decorated for such a temple parade.

And the last of the Indian elephants: these elephants are in the Periyar wildlife sanctuary.

Georgy collects stamps and always puts many new and interesting stamps on the cards he sends:

And the first card from Thailand!

This card comes from Tam in Thailand. Elephants are the national animal in Thailand. Which elephant card is your favorite?

A Salty Tale of Two Postcards

Tags

Asia, Europe, Germany, India

At first glance, these two cards may have nothing in common. But in fact, they are linked by a mineral vital to all our lives:

This is the city gate from the Hanseatic City of Lubeck in Germany. This card was sent by Steffi. Lubeck has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1987.

This card comes from Georgy in India and shows salt pans in Tamilnadu.

Now, if you are wondering what a city in Germany has to do with salt pans, the answer is salt! I’ve been reading a book called Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky. According to Kurlansky, the Hanseatic League, which was a prominent confederation of merchant guilds in the Middle Ages, was formed in large part because of the profitability of the salt trade. Salt also played an important role in the Indian independence movement; in 1930, Mahatma Gandhi led a march to the sea to produce salt and protest the British salt monopoly, and symbolically British rule in general.

Thanks so much to Steffi and Georgy for the great cards!

 

Week Around the World: India

Tags

Asia, India, religion

This little card is my first card from India, and it comes from Col Akhil via Walltype.

There is not much description on the card, but it does say that it shows that Goddess Chamundeswari. Chamundeswari is the tutelary deity of the Mysore. The card was sent from Bangalore with some stamps showing Indira and Rajiv Gandhi:

Tomorrow’s country is the Philippines, and I have three cards from there to share!