A commemorative postage stamp on the Birth Anniversary of Thakur Sri Ramkrishna Paramahansa, an Indian Hindu Bengali mystic and saint, Guru of Swami Vivekananda :

Issued by India

Issued on Feb 18, 1973

Issued for : The P & T Department feels honoured to bring out a commemorative stamp of this prophet of New India.

Description of Design : The design of the stamp is vertical and depicts the portrait of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Chestnut and Hornet Brown

Denomination : 20 Paise

Overall Size : 3.91 X 2.90 cms.

Printing Size : 3.56 X 2.54 cms.

Perforation : 13 x 13

Watermark : Printed on unwatermarked adhesive stamp paper

Number Printed : 30,00,000

Number per issue sheet : 35

Printing Process : Photogravure

Designed and Printed at : India Security Press

Name : Gadadhar Chattopadhyay

Born on Feb 18, 1836 at Kamarpukur, Bengal Presidency, British India [now in Hooghly district, West Bengal]

Died on Aug 16, 1886 at Cossipore, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

About : 

• A great spiritual luminary of India of the 19^th century, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was born of poor but pious parents at Kamarpukur in West Bengal on the 18^th of February, 1836. From a very early age, he showed signs of a spiritual bent of mind . The first experience of ‘Samadhi‘ came to him when he was about ten years old – it was inspired by the sight of a flight of cranes under a dark-blue cloud.
• The major part of his life was spent in the temple of Kali at Dakshineswar, a suburb of Calcutta. The image in the Temple was to him a living deity and the intense longing for God-vision carried him to the realisation of God as Mother in the image of Kali. Kali became a living companion to this young man who, to all appearances, was mad.
• In his 23^rd year he was married to a young girl, Sarada, but their life remained free from physical pleasures. Sri Sarada Devi affectionately known as the Holy Mother, accepted him as her Guru and carried on the work as laid down by him.
• Having successfully practised the discipline of the various religious cults of India and proved the efficacy of different paths in realising God-head, his attention was turned to the faiths of Islam and Christianity where his efforts were rewarded with the realisation of the Divine. He proved by his personal experience the truth of the Vedic saying “Ekam sat viprah bahudhah vadanti“.
• Just as a flower in full bloom attracts bees, many ardent souls in search of God were attracted to him and he could awaken the latent spiritual impulses in them by a touch, a word or a glance. Narendranath Dutt, who later became the world-famous Swami Vivekananda, was one of the most important disciples of Sri Ramakrishna and after the Master‘s passing away on 16^th August, 1886, he founded the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission.
• Sri Ramakrishna symbolised the efflorescence of the Indian spiritual life which was withering under the impact of a predominantly materialistic alien culture. He taught that service to man amounted to worship of God and that all religions are true.

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