Philatelic Buddha has smiled through Buddhism on Stamps

I first heard about the philatelic book ‘Buddhism on Stamps in an article published on one of the pages of Sikkim Express newspaper, the leading daily newspaper of Sikkim last year (2021). Since its release, the book has garnered praise across the philatelic circles and won various prizes in international competitions. As a collector of philatelic materials on Buddhism, I was very interested in going through this book's pages.

Suyog with the book

All thanks to Shri Lokeswara Rao, the author of the book. Upon contacting him through Facebook and WhatsApp, I finally had the book. This is the second philatelic book on Buddhism to my little knowledge after 'A Story of Gautama Buddha: As told through postage stamps’ written by Binod Shrestha from Nepal, published in 2018.

Rao has narrated the story of Buddhism through 22 chapters, touching every chronological timeline related to Buddha, his life, doctrines, and teachings; Buddhism as a spiritual journey, its evolution, and its practices across different corners of the world.

The book features 1127 different types of philatelic material (materials like stamp blocks, 3D stamps, silk stamps, se-tenant, FDC, miniature sheets, souvenir sheets, maxim cards, postcards, covers, gutters, booklets, errors, and proofs procured from different countries) including rare stamps, withdrawn stamps, silk stamps, and others.

Some of the interesting philatelic materials to me include the first Buddhism-related stamps issued in 1893 (China), withdrawn Bamiyan Buddha stamps (Afghanistan) now limited to a piece of paper, silk thanka painting stamps (Bhutan), trial colour proof (Laos, France), deluxe proof (Togolaise, Cambodia, Laos), overprint (Bhutan), perfin (India) and others.

This book is unique and a must-buy for every Buddhist lover, even if he is not a stamp collector. The book allows you to revisit the timelines of Buddhism before and after the death of Prince Siddhartha, who later became the Gautam Buddha.