India on Mahaparinirvana of Buddha 2007
A Miniature Sheet consisting of 6 nos of commemorative postage stamps on the 2550 years of Parinirvana of the Gautama Buddha Shakyamuni :
Issued by India
Issued on May 2, 2007
Issued for : The Department of Posts is proud to release a set of six postage stamps on the ‘Buddha‘ to commemorate the occasion.
Design : The first stamp depicts a statue from the Gandhara period of Siddhartha when he was still a prince. The second stamp shows a sculpture from Myanmar where Buddha is an ascetic having renounced royal luxuries to meditate on the essential Truth. The third stamp depicts the blissful head of the meditating Buddha (Dharmachakrapravartan or Turning-the-wheel-of-law Buddha) from Sarnath, India, also done in the Gandhara style. The fourth stamp depicts the Bhumisparsha Buddha holding the nectar of immortality in a jar. Some of the numerous incarnations of Buddha, past and future as well as pert of the cycle of creation and dissolution of the many worlds feature in the fifth stamp. Hinayana symbols such as the Lotus indicating the blossoming of inner harmony which is the basis of all existence, and the dharma chakra with the various stages of development is shown in the sixth stamp. Also seen in one corner is the bhumisparsha mudra which proclaims ‘the earth is my witness’.
Credits :
Stamp & FDC : Bharati Mirchandani
Cancellation : Alka Sharma
Type : Miniature Sheet, Mint Condition
Colour : Multicolour
Denomination : 500 Paise each
Stamps Printed : 0.6 Million each
Miniature Sheet : 0.4 Million
Printing Process : Photogravure
Printer : India Security Press, Nasik
About :
- At the age of 80, Buddha announced that he would enter ‘Parinirvana‘ or the final deathless state, abandoning the earthly body and attaining freedom from the cycles of birth and rebirth. Ever since, Kushinagar in India has been turned into a glorious memorial site of the Mahaparinirvana of the Buddha with stupas, caityas, and viharas like the Mahaparinirvana-vihara and Makutabandhana-vihara, built by devout Kings and followers.
- In fact, the purnima or full-moon in the month of Vaisakha is connected with three important events in the life of the Buddha, his janana or birth, his attainment of jnana or enlightenment, and his mahaparinirvana or achievement of the unconditioned state. It is, therefore, the most sacred day in the Buddhist calendar. According to Theravada Buddhism, the Buddha‘s parinirvana occurred on the full moon of Vaisakha 544 B.C., and the full moon on May the 13th, 2006, marked beginning of the 2550th year of the Mahaparinirvana of Gautama Buddha, the one who attained bodhi or supreme knowledge.
- Text : Based on material provided by the Ministry of Culture.
Very good Collection.