COVER N. 618 - SRI LANKA 

Postmark: Headquarters P.O. Colombo Mail  21.07.2025

Posted on the 21st July; Received on the 1st August 2025

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Boy... is my Sri Lankan connection alive.....

Thanks a lot Ravi, I can't keep up the pace.....my friend Mr. postman by now must be intrigued with having to deliver so many letters from Sri Lanka to my letterbox....😀

Vesak, the celebration of Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and death is celebrated on the first full moon of May. This year it took place on the week of the 12th May and in Sri Lanka, Colombo was at the epicentre of festivities with thousands of devotees participating.

From what I could see in videos, the streets were decorated with a multitude of lights and colourful light displays  and people visited the temples to make offers of flowers and oil lanterns. 

Food stalls were also set up and people were offered free meals what can only be regarded as  a way of fostering social bonds within the community.

Communion... this is central to all religions, I see the images of people being offered food in Colombo and I cannot help to think about the Impérios in Santa Maria, Azores, for the celebrations of the Holy Ghost when people would also be offered meals (a most delicious meat soup), or the amazingly savoury piece of Turkish bread my wife and I were once offered by a kind lady in Ankara, and the end of one of the days of the Ramadan.... 

As usual, on the occasion of Vesak, Sri  Lanka Post issued, on 10MAY2025, a souvenir sheet with three 50 Rupee stamps dedicated to the theme, each of them illustrated with  paintings from three different Buddhist temples.

The image on the souvenir sheet itself and well as that on the lower corner stamp are from the Hanguranketha Pothgul Vihara, an historically very important temple, given that  Pothgul Vihara, means “Library Temple,” what makes me infer its relevance as a  learning centre for the Buddhist faith.

The stamps all carry the legend 2569 Vesak 2025, since 2025 translates into year 2569 of the Buddhist Era, which began with the death of Buddha.

- The second mini-sheet on the cover comprises an absolutely delicious  four stamp set (4; 10;15 and 35 rupees) stamp set dedicated to Birds of Sri Lanka, issued on 16DEC2017. From left to right, top to bottom we have:

- Sri Lanka black capped bulbul (Pycnonotus melanicterus)

an endemic passerine, quite common in the Island State

- Sri Lanka chestnut-backed owlet (Glaucidium Castanotum)

a member of the Strigidae family, endemic to Sri Lanka, its populations have been showing signs of regression , hence the Near Threatened status awarded by IUCN

Sri Lanka Warbler ( Elaphronis palliseri)

Another Near Threatened bird, this  member of the Locustellidae family lives in the highlands of central Sri Lanka, usually above 1200 m.

- Sri Lanka Drongo (Dicrurus lophorinus) 

As all the other birds in the series, the Sri Lanka Drongo is endemic to the Island State where it can be frequently be found in the wet zone of  its South Western parts.

This member of the  Dicruridae family is classified as a Least Concern species.