PATNA: India Post has issued stamps on several festivals but not on
Chhath festival till date. But
Nepal stepped in to fill the void when the Himalayan Kingdom, under its culture series programme, issued two stamps in 2009, depicting one of the devotees offering 'arghya' to
the Sun God, while other shows different facets of worship at Janakpur in Nepal.
"Chhath, the most
important festival of Bihar, has commenced. It is also observed across the country, wherever people from
Bihar are settled. Earlier, we had urged our postal department to issue stamps on Chhath. But the department didn't pay attention to it. In 2007, we moved a proposal when
Dayanidhi Maran was the union minister for communications and IT while Dr Shakeel Ahmed from Bihar was the minister of state but nothing tangible came out. Every year, we urge the ministry to issue stamps on Chhath but in vain," noted
philatelist of Bihar Pradip Jain, who is also the member of the Philatelic advisory committee, Government of India, said.
He said, "We will again request the deputy director general of Philately division, Government of India, T S Sinha, to issue stamps and special cover on Chhath festival." Jain hoped that Sinha, a resident of
Patna, would certainly look into the matter. Till then, stamp lovers can enjoy
the beauty of Nepal Chhath stamp made available by Nepal Post, he said.
During this festival, in Nepal, devotees gather at the water bodies of
Kathmandu mainly at 'Rani Pokhari', 'Gauri ghat', 'Manohara' river and Bagmati river. The special cover of the Nepal Chhath stamp said that this festival is celebrated specially in Janakpur, Siraha, Saptari, Parsa etc. But for the past few years, it has been a great attraction in Kathmandu also.
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