Lord Ram's Postage Stamps Issued By 20 Countries Across The Globe: Philatelists

Jabalpur: At least 20 countries around the world have issued postage stamps featuring Lord Ram and themes from the Ramayana, said philatelists gathered at the World Ramayana Conference at Jabalpur.

These stamps feature not only Lord Ram and Sita but also Ravana and Meghanada.

The global influence of the Ramayana was prominently displayed at the World Ramayana Conference showcasing a collection of postage stamps issued by over 20 countries on the theme of the Indian epic – Ramayana.

Satish Kumar Srivastava, a retired government official from Jabalpur dedicated his post retirement life to a singular pursuit - documenting the depiction of Ram and Ramayana through postal art. While many philatelists collect stamps of a wide variety, Srivastava’s focus was the legacy of Ramayana. What began as a hobby evolved into a passionate search highlighting the Ramayana and how the theme transcended the borders of India.

The search revealed that apart from India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia are the countries where the ancient Hindu Epic was deeply woven into national dance and theatre forms.

Mauritius was another country which maintains strong cultural links to the Ramayana.

Srivastava's work demonstrates that the narrative of Lord Ram is not just a regional story but a global cultural phenomenon recognized by postal services across several continents.

When Satish Kumar Srivastava began his work, he had no idea that postal stamps depicting Lord Ram were issued in 20 countries around the world. He gradually started acquiring stamps from all these countries. Initially, he collected only those stamps from India that were based on Ram and the Ramayana

Satish Kumar Srivastava said, "Nepal has issued a postal stamp on Shravan Kumar. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has issued stamps on Lord Ram and several avatars of Vishnu. A stamp depicting Ravana has also been issued there. Antigua and Barbuda has also issued postal stamps featuring several characters from the Ramayana."

Indonesia has issued a postal stamp depicting Sita and Hanuman in Ashoka Vatika. Bali has issued a stamp showing Hanuman lifting the Sanjeevani mountain. Uganda has also issued postage stamps featuring Hanuman. Cambodia has issued postage stamps depicting Hanuman.

Satish Kumar Srivastava says, "This is an expensive hobby, because when postage stamps are ordered from other countries, they don't send a single stamp; you have to buy the entire series, which costs a lot of money. But we do it for the love of the hobby."

Postage stamp collector Shyam Narayan Tiwari said, "He also has a unique postage stamp that, ideally, should have been issued first by India. But it was issued by Laos, a country in South Asia. The image is of the Ramlala idol in Ayodhya, which was installed only in 2024. Laos issued a postage stamp on it. This postage stamp has also been displayed in this exhibition."

A year ago, India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar unveiled the first postage stamp on Ramlala in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. At that time, Jaishankar tweeted, "A special stamp set was launched celebrating our shared cultural heritage of the Ramayana and Buddhism." The Lao People's Democratic Republic became the first country in the world to issue this stamp.