Traditional Wedding Costumes from Malaysia.

Malaysia is issuing a new set of five stamps representing traditional wedding costumes from various parts of the country.The garb depicted on these stamps represents the wide range of cultures and traditions existing in Malaysia, including wedding dress from Chinese and Indian traditions.

First stamp shows the Malay bride and groom in their traditional wedding attire made of songket cloth along with a decorative headgear.

Second stamp shows Chinese bridal couple in the traditional wedding costume. The bride is dressed in an embroidered skirt with a matching long red silk jacket and around her neck is a large elaborately decorated detachable collar, resembling the neck feathers of the phoenix. On her head is an ornate headdress made of gilded gold and silver inlaid with kingfisher feathers and embellished with pearls and red pom-poms. The bridegroom's wedding attire is a long embroidered dragon robe. He wears a black hat with red tassels.

The third stamp depicts an Indian bride and bridegroom in their traditional colourful wedding attire. The bride is in a beautiful silk saree and matching blouse with gold thread embroidery while the bridegroom in a long-sleeved shirt and matching cotton cloth woven with gold thread. The bride is adorned with flowers in her hair and the garland of flowers round their neck, with flower bouquets in their hands. In the background is a picture of a garland normally used at Indian weddings where the garland is exchanged by the bride and the groom.

The fourth stamp shows the costume for the Orang Ulu bridegroom, an embroidered bead vest and a loin-cloth. The headgear is fashioned from feathers and woven beads. The Orang Ulu bride is in a colourful sequined dress and her head is beautifully adorned with a "lavung doh". In the background "Bunga Jarau", a wood ornament shown is a decorative item used at weddings.

The fifth and the last stamp shows Bajau bridal costume, the "badu sipak"; the yellow blouse made of satin with flared sleeves, showing off an under-blouse of a contrasting hue and the "olos berangkit" which is a full length black wrap-skirt. Other interesting accessories adorn the bride such as "mandapun", a decorative ornament with stylised silver or gold leaves worn around the neckline; "serempak", a two-piece head decoration in the shape of a ship made of gilded silver and "garigai" which are small ornaments dangling down from the hair bun. Silver bangles and jewellery such as the "ingkot pangkat" or the silver coin belt and "keku"; long tapered gold fingercovers complete the finishing touch for the bride.

Nagaland Philatelic Exhibition 2009

The Department of Posts is conducting ‘Nagaland Philatelic Exhibition 2009’ at the auditorium of Christian Higher Secondary School, Dimapur on March 28 from 9:00 am to 3:30 PM.School children will display their collection of postage stamps at the exhibition.There will be an invitees section wherein Senior philatelists will put up display of postage stamps on various themes.A postage stamp design competition for school children and a philately workshop will also be conducted at the venue.

Sea Birds of Mare Balticum

I am not able to give time to my blog, being busy on the personal front I have to stay away from my hobby. However, today I present a cover received from Estonia.

The cover has 4 stamps of the sea birds of Mare Balticum, I am surprised that the stamps are of the year 1992 ! One more stamps of a whale (definative?) has been used at the left side to balance the postage.

STAMPMANIA 2009

The Official Logo of STAMPMANIA 2009 has been launched on 13th March 2009 and has been posted at its official website. Details of the Exhibition and Prospectus in pdf format is now available. For further details visit the website http://www.stampmania2009.com/

Special Cover - Philatelic Exhibition on Post Office

A special Cover was released on the ocassion of The 'Philatelic Exhibition on POST OFFICE' from 13 - 15 October 2008. The cover depicts Mysore War Fund picture Post Card which were issued in 1917, with a view to benifit the Red Cross Fund.

Postcrossing card on "SHIPS"

Here is another card on my subject "SHIPS" received through Postcrossing recently form Karin, Norway. Postcrossing has recently reached 2 million mark.

FDC from Italy

Today I am presenting a cover sent to me by Nadia from Italy. The first Day Cover of a stamp released in 2008 relating to the devastating earthquake which hit the city and Strait of Messina in Italy on Dec 28, 1908.The stamp features an aerial view of the city and Strait of Messina, in stylised graphics, along with the city of Reggio Calabria in the background. There are some concentric rings on the stamp, which represent the seismic waves caused by the earthquake.

Second Arab Stamp Exhibition - Website

The 2nd Arab Stamp Exhibition, organized by Emirates Post and Emirates Philatelic Association, will take place at Wafi Centre, Dubai, from March 5 to 9, 2009, under the patronage of HH Majid Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Art and Culture Authority. Unique stamps from Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria, Syria, Egypt, Morocco, Yemen, Jordan, Palestine, Somalia, Sudan, Djibouti and the UAE, will be showcased at the Exhibition.

To provide details of the Exhibition a dedicated website, has been launched by Emirates Post.
Visit http://www.arabstampexh.ae/ for further details.

Stamp pre-release - Spices of India.

We had come across many pre-release in 2008 and hoped that it may not be the case in 2009, but here again we have a pre-release in 2009. Here is a MS of Spices of India which was pre-released and was cancelled in Chandigarh on 28th January 2009.

Kodagupex - 2009

A Special cover was released on the occasion of KoDAGUPEX - 2009 at Madikeri on 8th Feb 2009. The Cachet is of Fort Madikeri which was a Palace built with brick and mortar in 1814 by Lingarajedra Wodeyar II. The Original mud fort was rebuilt in stone by Tippu Sultan.

India-U.A.E Joint Stamp Exhibition in 2010

A delegation of India Post recently visited Dubai and held talks with top officials of Emirates Post Group to identify areas of further bilateral cooperation.The two sides besides discussing ways of enhancing the express mail service, remittances through IFS, Wall Street Exchange and parcel services also agreed to host a joint stamp exhibition in 2010.

Cover from Estonia - Ships and Lighthouse

Dear friends,
As our local club is getting ready to hoist a stamp and coin exhibition I have been busy these last few days and unable to update my blog. However here is a scan of a Cover sent from Estonia on my collecting subject - SHIPS. The cover has beautiful stamps cancelled neatly. Thanks for the same.

The first stamp is of Suur Toll which is a ice breaker steamship and the second is of the submarine Lembit, released in the year 1996 .The third and fourth stamps are of lighthouses released in 1995 and 1999. I have noticed that Estonia has been releasing a series stamps on Lighthouses.

Stamp or Currency!

When I first saw this stamp among the others I received from Russia this is what crossed my mind. Is it a Stamp or a Currency?

Yes, it is a stamp! It was issued by Russia on 1 September 2008 to celebrate the 190th anniversary of Goznak.

Goznak is a Russian Federal Government-owned corporation responsible for the production of coins, bank notes and other security papers. Goznak was established on July 6th 1919. Goznak not only prints Russian money, but also prints banknotes of a few other foreign countries. Currently it is engaged in printing biometric passports for Russia.On 3rd of September 2008 Goznak celebrated its 190th anniversary.

Barack Obama postmarks from USA

Today there was a series of cards, covers and postmarks by the US Postal Division to mark the Inauguration day. Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th and the first African-American (non-white) President of USA.

Inaugural Portrait Card: This has a 42c Flag stamp and the 3c White House stamp affixed and canceled.

Barack Obama "Life in Stamps" : On this cover six stamps are affixed and cancelled today, which is related to the President's Life like his birth in Honolulu, graduation from Columbia University, professor of law, elected from Illinois in the U.S senate and now elected President of the US.

Besides these there are few more covers and cards which were released today.

Table Calendar - 2009

Delhi Postal Circle issued a 6 page Table Calendar - 2009 showcasing Indian miniature sheets. It is available at Delhi Philatelic bureau priced at Rs.34.00.

PHILAPOST

To serve the interests of philatelists in India and abroad an authentic magazine providing philatelic information, views, a place to express opinion and to bring likeminded people together was a long felt need. India Post and Philatelic Congress of India have come together to fill the void with a quarterly magazine “PhilaPost”. The subscription for this fully multicoloured magazine is kept very low at Just Rs. 40/- per annum (4 issues) post paid anywhere in India to reach the masses. This became possible because of the initiative & kind co-operation of Mr. RRP Singh, Deputy Director General (Philately), India Post. Some copies of Inaugural Issue of this magazine were made available at various Philatelic Bureaus for sale at Rs. 10/- each. Next issue scheduled to be released in January 2009.

I hereby request you to join hands for promotion of this magazine “PhilaPost”. I also request fellow philatelists to contribute by way of submitting good research articles, letter to the editor, subscription of the magazine, advertisements, etc. The articles may be sent to editors Dr. R.S. Gandhi, Shri Manik Jain, Shri Mainak Kathuria or Shri G. Bhaskar. For philatelic advertisements, request for rates can be sent to me at ajay@kshitiz.com. I request you to give it a wide publicity and share and spread this information in your society meetings.

Kindly collect the subscription for “PhilaPost” from members of your society and send the forms collectively with consolidated payment by demand draft or cheque payable at par at Delhi NCR in the name of M/s L B Associates (Pvt.) Ltd. to Ajay Kumar Mittal, Executive Secretary, PhilaPost, D-57 South Extension-1, New Delhi-110049.

Thanks

With Philatelic Greetings and best wishes for 2009

For further information contact:
Ajay Kumar Mittal
Executive Secretary, “PhilaPost”
ajay@kshitiz.com
D-57 South Extension Part-1
New Delhi-110049, India
Contact : 9811032311