POSTCARD N.158 - SRI LANKA

Postcard sent on the 5th August; received  0n the 19th August 2024

Postcard image: Galle Lighthouse
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Lighthouses... Who isn't fascinated by these amazingly photogenic buildings, most times located at places that, by themselves, are worthy of a photo, but which gain a whole new plastic dimension just for the presence of the erect tower of a lighthouse somewhere at one of the place's tips?

I love them, I have always did, ever since I visited my first lighthouse with my father in the Azores, Santa Maria Island - Farol de Gonçalo Velho - when I was a kid.

Ravindra is a great Lighthouse fan (and I'm sure an even greater fan than myself, for Lighthouses are is philatelic theme of choice) so it comes as no surprise that amidst the many postcards that he so generously keeps sending me, one dedicated to these incredible infrastructures should be included.

Ravindra tells me that this is the Galle Lighthouse, located at the tip of the Galle peninsula inside the Galle fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and also another remnant of the Portuguese presence in Sri Lanka, since the original fort was built by them (well... us) in 1588.

The lighthouse itself was built by the British in 1939, and is 26.5 metres tall.

All the Galle site was badly hit by the horrendous Tsunami of  2004, and even though  the harm done by the flooding was huge, it would have been worse were it not for the fortified walls which somewhat shielded the buildings inside from direct hits by the waters.

I read that Sri Lanka has now managed to fully restore the site to its former condition, what is really something to be happy about, knowing how hard the country was hit by the catastrophe.

Three circular stamps were used to mail the postcard. left to right:

- Cricket is the most popular sport in Sri Lanka and I expect its heroes to be worshiped are like soccer players around here. One of the great names in the sport is Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan (1972 -) who is credit as being the  highest wicket taker in test cricket. (I, of course, had to look this up, since cricket is completely outside my sphere of reference).

Muttiah Muralitharan was honoured with the 5 Rupee circular stamp on the postcard, issued on 03DEC2007.

- Volleyball was introduced in Sri Lanka in 1916 by R. W. Camack, the Director of Physical Education at the Colombo Y.M.C.A., at the time.

Nowadays and since 1955,  all matters Volleyball in the country are managed by the  Sri Lanka Volleyball Federation, and the sport rose so much in popularity that it has been declared by the Government as Sri Lanka's national sport, although, as mentioned above, the most played sport in the country is probably Cricket. 

Celebrating the 100 years of Volleyball in the country, Sri Lanka Post issued on 07DEC2026 the 10 rupee circular stamp used on the postcard, illustrated with the image of a player getting ready to hit the ball.

- On 15JUN2023, Sri Lanka Post issued a mini-sheet containing 20 x 50 Rupee circular stamps, dedicated to fruits and vegetables of Sri Lanka.

The stamp on the postcard is illustrated with an image of a Dialium ovoideum (Velvet Tamarind) plant, which is endemic to Sri Lanka and cultivated for its edible fruit.

The Postmark again hails from Colombo and is dated of  the 5th August.

POSTCARD N.157 - MALAYSIA

Postcard sent on the 4th July; received  0n the 19th August 2024

Postcard image: St. paulk's Church on St. Paul's Hill, Malacca city
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Ravindra keeps enticing me with great postcards with images which bear a relation to my Portuguese heritage. This time not from his own Sri Lanka, but from Malaysia, and the city of Malacca: the oldest European building east of India, the church of Saint Paul, first built in 1521 as a small chapel, under the orders of Duarte Coelho, who named it Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Anunciada (Our lady of the Annunciation) as a token of gratitude for his having been saved from a storm in the South China Sea.

The Chapel was later donated to the Society of Jesus represented by St. Francis Xavier, who had been sent by the Portuguese King D. João III on an evangelisation mission to the Eastern territories where the  Portuguese  had been present 

The chapel  was enlarged and a belfry added to it in 1590, its designation changing to Igreja da Madre de Deus (Church of God's Mother).

The name by which it is now known, Saint Paul's Church, was given by the Dutch, who, after expelling the Portuguese from Malacca, reconsecrated the Church to St. Paul.

The British, who occupied Malacca from 1826, used the church as a powder magazine, and over time it was left to deteriorate to its present state.

Ravindra used a 100 ringgit stamp part of a 4 x 100 Ringgit se-tenant strip joint issue with Singapore, issued in celebration of the centenary of the Causeway between Johore and Singapore.

The four stamps, issued on 28JUN2024, are illustrated with paintings of views of the causeway in 1930 and in 2020, as seen from the Malaysian and Singaporan sides of the infrastructure.

The stamp on the postcard reflects the view of the causeway from Singapore in 2020. 

The Postmark reads Pusat Mel Nasional (Pos Malaysia National Mail Centre) Malaysia, which is located in the city of Sha Alam, State of Selangor.
 

COVER N. 499 - FRANCE- DROM-COM - TAAF - TERRES AUSTRALES ET ANTARCTIQUES FRANÇAISES

Postmark: Ille Europa - Illes Eparses 01.07.2024

Posted on the 1st July; Received on the 16th August 2024

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I love to receive mail from France's Overseas Territories, because the stamps are usually nothing short of works of art. The more so when the covers originate at the Southern and  Antarctic Lands, since further to the lovely stamp(s) the envelopes are always embellished with nice cachet, thus making each cover a rather unique item in the collection.

Un grand merci, Roland, pour ce très beau pli.

Ships, ancient or modern, are a common theme on France's TAFF Stamps. Not a surprising statement given that sea fairing vessels have always played a vital role in the relation of France with the very scarcely inhabited territories (a few tens of scientists at most, I believe), be it at the time of their discovery, or today as the main vehicle for supplying the scientific bases with goods and personnel.

Corvette La Dauphine, was  a 3 mast (like all corvettes are, if you do not consider those produced by Chevrolet... 😀) 4 gun corvette built in 1773.

La Dauphine was part of the fleet captained by  Yves de Kerguelen-Trémarec ( the discoverer, in 1772, of the islands that would be named after him as the Kerguelen islands), on his second expedition in search of the Terra Australis, in 1773. It was during this same mission that Kerguelen-Trémarec discovered the Illes Nuageuses, a group of islands also part of the Kerguelen Archipelago. 

But not only glory is  written down on La Deauphine Currriculum, since in 1774, Kerguelen-Trémarec order it to go to Madagascar, to be involved in  the slave trade.

In 1976, though, la Deauphine would be instrumental in the rescue operation of a group of slaves that had been left stranded on Tromelin Island by the crew of the ship that had transported them and which was wrecked. Of the 160 abandoned people, only 7 women and a 6 month child were alive to be  saved by the crew of la Deauphine.

On 02JAN2024, la Poste issued the very nice 1,65 € stamp with and engraving of La Deauphine, as she sailed the Indian ocean waters to rescue the stranded slaves at Tromelin Island, who can be seen waiving frantically from the shoreline to the crew on board the ship.

The Postmark was applied at Europe island, one of the "Scattered Islands", and further to the coordinates of the place where the postmark was applied, the cover also carries the cachet of the Postmaster of Europa.

 COVER N. 498 - Sri Lanka

Postmark: Headquarters P. O. Colombo Mail 24.07.2024

Posted on the 24th July; Received on the 14th August 2024

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Ravindra's torrent of mail keeps flowing into my letterbox as if  a "letterfall" is feeding it 😃. Bohomȧ  sthoothi, Ravindra!

This time I got a  cover with three more stamps from the nice waterfalls of Sri Lanka mini-sheet. 

Ravindra has been sending so much letters and postcards with beautiful images of his country that Sri Lanka is now highly placed on my "one day" list. Sadly we will have to wait a bit longer in order to be able to travel during the best visiting period so that we can accommodate the dates into the work schedule of my wife, but the objective is set!

As mentioned above, the three stamps on the cover are part of a set issued as a 10 x 50 rupee mini-sheet, dating of 02FEB0224, themed on Sri Lankan waterfalls.

three stamps from the set were already mentioned in this blog, two in the post for cover #439, and one in the post for Postcard #155.

From left to right we now have:

- Surathali Ella Waterfall 

With a drop of 60 meters, Surathaçi Waterfall is located in the Ratnapura District and is originated by the waters of River Kadawath, collected at the Sri Pada Reserve’s Ellamana mountain range.

- Hatmale Ella Waterfall 

Hatmale Ella waterfall comprises seven segments ("Hatmala", hence the name.,.) totalling an height of  45 metres and a width of 10 meters. The fall is generated by water descending from the  Deniyaya Gongala mountain range and is located some 7 km out of Deniyaya town.

-  Gerandi Ella Waterfall

Located close to Gerandi Ella village, in the Passara Provincial Secretariat, the fall comprises several steps that lead the water into the Lokkgal Oya River, down below.

All in all, three very nice stamps from a theme that is quite dear to me, since I cannot go past a place with a waterfall without visiting it... 

As usual, the postmark hails from Colombo's central P.O.

COVER N. 497 - RUSSIA

Postmark: Illegible

Posted on the 24th July; Received on the 14th August 2024

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Another of Julia's interesting covers. I really appreciate the care Julia puts in all of her  postcard sendings, always dispatched inside a very nice envelope which itself tells a story about something or someone, as it is the case, embellished with some nice stamps.  большое спасибо, Юлия.

This time, the pre-paid Tarif "A" envelope, included in the series “Benefactors of Russia”   is dedicated to earl Pyotr Borisovich Sheremetev (1713–1788), who Wikipedia informs was the second most rich man in Russia of his time, the first, of course, being Tzar Peter the Great.

The first elected Marshal of the Nobility for the Moscow Province, a top hierarchical function in the corporative administration of nobility and its interaction with the crown, which  he assumed in 1780, Pyotr Sherementev  would also become famous as a patron and collector of art. 

Being very fond of dramatic art,  he founded his own serf theatre  and serf orchestra, which would undoubtedely enlighten the receptions at the lavish estate of his family in Kuskovo, close to Moscow.

The grotto Pavilion, one of several existing in the estate,is also shown as an illustration in the envelope.

If Sheremetev was a theatre lover, Vsevolod Emilyevich Meyerhold was an actor, director and producer and a spirit free enough to have become a victim of Stalin's infamous purges, having been shot in 1940, accused of spying for the British and the Japanese...

On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of his birth, Russian Post issued, on 26JAN2024, the 50 ruble stamp on the cover, illustrated with his portrait over the subdued image of a stage with actors performing.

The Hero of the Soviet Union Title and decoration, which was awarded in conjunction with the order of Lenin, was the highest distinction that  the Soviet Union bestowed upon its citizens or organizations during its existence as a state until its desegregation  in 1991. It was  last awarded in December of that same year to  a diver of the Soviet Armed Forces, Captain Leonid Mikhailovich Solodkov, for his participation in several extreme depth diving experiments.

On the ocasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the title and decoration,  the 9 ruble stamp featuring the golden star with a red ribbon decoration over a blue background was issued, on 29OCT2009.

As usual, Julia enclosed a very interesting postcard in the envelope, dedicated to the 165 years of the Russian stamp.

Central to the image is the imperforated 10 kopek stamp issued in 1857 as the first stamp of was then the Russian Empire, with several other Russian stamps orbiting alongside it. On the background there's a passageway linking two buildings with a sign, which I presume should translate as Post Office?

The postcard which has a printing run of 350 has a QR code on its back that supposedly takes you to a video, but unfortunately my cell phone is not compatible with it.

Thanks again, Julia for such a great postcard.

Although the postmark is illegible, I suspect that the letter was mailed from Kaluga, as usual with Julia's sendings.

POSTCARD N.156 - INDONESIA

Postcard sent on the 22th July; received in (?) August 2024

Postcard image: dancers in Sulawesi Island
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Another member of the "Thank You Mr. Postman Frequent Contributor Programme" is my friend up north. This time the Flying Dutchman chose to pamper me with a great vintage postcard form Indonesia, from the Island of  Sulawesi, one of the Greater Sunda Islands, a place which I read is also famous for being a great location for diving and reef observing.

I also read that the first Europeans to set foot on Sulawesi, were the Portuguese in 1523. They (or better, we  :-)) would maintain a presence in Celebes, as it was known by them  until 1665, until the Dutch took possession of the Island....

Who would have thought by then that one day, a Dutch would send a Portuguese a postcard with an image of the some beautiful dancers on that same island, now part of another sovereign state....?

Six 1500 stamps were used to mail the Postcard to Portugal. 

- Each year, Ari Guru - National Teacher's Day - is celebrated throughout Indonesia on the 25th November.

On 25NOV2004, Pos Indonesia issued a se-tenant pair of 1500 Rupiah stamps dedicated to this celebration, both stamps being illustrated with iconic images of teachers with their students.

- The Presidential election of 2004 took Place on the 5th July and the 20th September, electing general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for a first term which ended in 2009 (he would be re-elected for a second term after that, which ran until 2014).

As part of an awareness campaign for the elections, Pos Indonesia, on 05APR2004,  issued the se-tenant two stamp set used on the postcard, featuring a man and a woman calling on the attention of people to participate in the election, on one stamp,  and actually voting themselves, on the other. The legend Milih Langsung, present on both stamps., translates into "Direct Vote",  according to Deepl.

- A 4 x 1500 Rupiah stamp set plus 1 x 5000 Rupiah stamp souvenir sheet dedicated to Tourism was issued by Pos Indonesia on 27SEP2003.

Two of the stamps can be seen on the postcard:

The top one is dedicated to the Muang Jong ritual performed by members of the Sawang or Sekak Tribes during which miniatures of boats are offered to the ocean as a means to ask for protection and safety for anyone living off the sea.

The one on the bottom is dedicated to the Seba Baduy, an occasion when a community that actually lives all year long in seclusion,  closed to outsiders, in the Banten province, west of Jakarta, comes out of  seclusion to  do a 115 km pilgrimage until the city of Serang.

The Postmark indicates that the postcard was posted at Bogor Selatan (South Bogor) in the west of the Island of java.

POSTCARD N.155 - SRI LANKA

Postcard sent on the 24th July; received in (?) August 2024

Postcard image: Kirigalpoththa Mountain
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Another of Ravindra's great sendings. This time a postcard issued by the Philatelic Bureau of Sri Lanka Post with an image of the second highest mountain in the country as can be read in the legend that accopmanies the photograph in the card. Bohomȧ  sthoothi, Ravindra!

Ravindra used one 50 Rupee stamp of the 10 x 50 Rupee minisheet, dating of 02FEB0224, themed on Sri Lankan waterfalls, of which 2 stamps were already mentioned a propos cover #439.

The waterfall highlighted on this stamp is Lanka Ella Waterfall, a 32 m high fall, located in the Kalupahana area in the Badulla District of the Uva Province. It can only be accessed by foot, what contributes to its still very pristine condition. 

The two 15 Rupee stamps with precious stones, an aquamarine, the blue gem form of Beryl  and two zircon gems, an yellow and a green, zircon colours ranging from colourless to golden yellow, brown, red, blue or green, are part of a 10 x 15 rupee mini-sheet, dedicated to gems of Sri Lanka, issued on 06NOV2021.

As usual, the postmark on the stamps was applied at Sri Lanka Post Headquarters, in Colombo.