Hindu gods on US postage stamps

Washington, Feb 1: After famous cartoon characters such as Calvin and Hobbes and Archie, Hindu deities have made their way into the Us postal department.

While the line of stamps featuring popular cartoon characters known as 'Sunny Funnies' was conceptualised by the United States Postal Services (USPS), an Atlanta-based company headed by an Indian-American is behind the postage stamps depicting Hindu gods and goddesses.

The company, usa-postage.com, launched the first series of these custom-made postage stamps in denomination of 44 cents featuring Sai Baba, Lord Venkateshwara, Lakshmi, Murugan, Vinayaka, Shiva-Parvathi and Sri Krishna in Jan 2010.

“These postages have not been issued by the US Postal Service, but these are as good as stamps and is legally valid. We do not call them stamps. We call them as postages. But these can be used as any other normal stamp," Roy Betts, spokesman of USPS is quoted as saying in a news agency report.

This is the first instance of postage stamps depicting Hindu gods and goddesses to be launched in America.

“Customised postage sheets are ideal for giving as gift items. Indian community living in the US can order online as a gift item," said Ennar Chilakapati, vice president, usa-postage.com.

The company made use of a six-year-old law of the US Postal Service (USPS) that permits issuing of customised postages to launch the series.

Postage stamps with divine images have specific appeal to the Indian community living in the US. As a matter of fact, the company has seen a lot of support from the 1.5 million-strong community since its launch, along with being overwhelmed by requests from Britain.

OneIndia News