
At Shenoy Nagar’s Amma Arangam, Muthu welcomed students from various city schools. Muthu, the emerald dove and the state bird of Tamil Nadu, wore a khaki postal uniform and a letter box as a crown. This is the official mascot of the Tamil Nadu Postal Circle. Starting on Wednesday, the department organised the 14th State-level philatelic exhibition ‘TANAPEX 2025’ in cooperation with the South India Philatelists Association (SIPA).
At this three-day exhibition, movable boards were positioned in parallel rows. Zooming in, one could see small pieces of paper conveying tales of nations, revolutions, and lost history. “I recognised some of the leaders and historic moments on stamps — figures and events my grandfather once brought to life through his stories. He spent his life collecting these tiny pieces of history, and now, I am thinking of continuing his journey,” shared Rithvika M from CSI Bains School.
Ninth grader, Manasa R said, “I collect stamps. Coming here, I was amazed by looking at the interesting and unique stamp collection. There are a few collectors’ names mentioned that I am looking forward to connect with to discuss this hobby.” A total of 490 and more individual philatelists presented their collection and a few launched their series here.
Similar is the collection inaugurated by the Postcrossing Welfare Society of India. Under the aegis of India Post, the society released a set of postcards titled, ‘Dances from the Ancient Tamil Land’. Of the many, eleven postcards were from the kolam artworks by city-based historian and researcher, Meenakshi Devraj. She explained, “In Tamil literature, you have a lot of information about art. One such is kuthu, which people now know as nadanam or naatiyam. Silapathikaram has an elaborate description of this kuthu art. There are about 11 kuthu dance items, which were performed by Madhavi, one of the main characters in the poem. So, a few years ago, I made chikku kolam patterns of these eleven dances.”
To spread awareness about these “dying art forms”, Meenakshi hoped that the postcards will enable a cross-cultural exchange. “Most of us do not know what those kuthu forms are, except for a few like Marakalattam or the Karagattam. I want to preserve the names to show that we had such vibrant dance forms in practice,” she added. Kodukotti, Pandaranga Koothu, Alli Koothu, Kudai Koothu, and Pedi Koothu, are some dance patterns printed on the postcards.
Meenakshi wants postal services to join hands with artistes, as she believes, historical establishments (postal services) cannot work solo. “By collaborating with artistes, who are preserving culture, it becomes a win-win to both and a win to society,” she concluded.