After 4-year break, Karnataka postal circle reboots its annual philatelic exhibition

As part of its ongoing effort to redefine ‘connecting people’ in the online era, the Karnataka Postal Circle will be reviving its annual state-level philatelic exhibition, which was last held in 2019 in Mangalore.

“Ultimately, we want people to rediscover the joy of sending letters and postcards. We believe that this can be achieved by giving them a glimpse of the rich postal heritage of India,” Director of Postal Services (HQ) Kaiya Arora told PTI.

The 13th edition, Karnapex 2024, which will be held in Bengaluru between January 5 and January 8, will piece together Karnataka’s socio-cultural history through stamps, special covers, special cancellations and pictorial collections, she added.

A cancellation is a postal marking affixed on a stamps or envelopes of India Post to deface the stamp and prevent its re-use. Cancellations come in a variety of designs, shapes, sizes and colors.

“Stamps that are issued to mark historical milestones are nuggets of information and are perfect learning tools,” Arora pointed out.

For instance, she said that to commemorate Karnapex 2024, special covers about things and events unique to Karnataka – like ‘ali guli manne’ and ‘kambala’ – will be released, thus documenting them for posterity.

The philatelic exhibition, which will showcase 690 rare and unique collections of stamps in total, including those loaned from serious philatelists, will explore different themes every day, she added.

“On January 5, we begin with stamps that document the history and culture of Karnataka. On January 6, it will be science, technology and environment. On January 7, stamps exploring the themes of mental health and sports will be displayed. And on the final day, women empowerment will be the key word,” said Arora.

But Karnapex 2024 is much more than stamps, she said. “We are going all out to draw people out of their homes. So, we have workshops on origami making, letter writing and drawing cartoons. We have a drawing and painting competition as well as a stamp designing competition. We have many interactive events planned too – ranging from something traditional like a treasure hunt to innovative ones like digital charkha,” said Arora.

The director said part of the reason why the postal department decided to up the outreach game is because the ‘Unboxing Bengaluru’ event, which was held during the first half of December, put a spotlight on the quaint postal history of the city. “Many, for instance, discovered the oldest functional post box in the city, one of the 100 post boxes that Britain shipped to India to establish the postal service in India. This is at Taj West End. And this created a lot of buzz for us, thanks to social media influencers,” said Arora.

The exhibition venue will also have stalls for sale of stamps, special covers, coins and other philately related items.