When a family of five, including three children, steps in to look at thousands of antique coins of different dynasties gleaming under the solar-powered lamps at Corporation Bank Heritage Museum in Udupi near the famed Krishna Temple, it’s an opportunity that philatelist-cum-curator M K Krishnayya will simply not let pass by.
“I capitalise on such family outings to motivate children and their parents to start collecting stamps as a hobby and improve their knowledge,” says 65-year-old Krishnayya. The curator—who begun collecting stamps when he was 12—says that stamp collection is not just a hobby but also a family bonding activity. “Spending just one hour a week on collecting stamps will build closeness among family members,” he says.
When Corporation Bank decided to open the museum in 2011 at the same place where the bank was founded 109 years ago—at the home of its founder-president Khan Bahadur Haji Abdullah Haji Kasim Saheb Bahadur—Krishnayya accepted the job of curator knowing that one of the perks that came with the job was reigniting the waning passion for philately among the young.
In the middle of the hall surrounded by coins and currencies is the life-size portrait of the heritage house’s owner Haji Abdullah Saheb Bahadur. A Deccani Muslim, he owned huge tracts of land in Udupi and Karkala.
With a spring in his step that comes from pursuing a vocation complementing his hobby, the curator weaves stories around the coins, making it interesting even for those with a passing interest in them. The series of exhibits—modelled on the lines of the London Museum with over 2,000 coins—begins with Gandharva coins dating back to 400 BC.
Commemorative coins of India in denominations up to Rs 1,000 have been the museum’s recent acquisitions. The coin of the highest denomination of Rs 1,000 was minted to commemorate 1,000 years of the Brihadeshwarar Temple (1010-2010) in Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu). “These coins were procured by paying Rs 3,000-5,000 to the RBI (Reserve Bank of India),” says Krishnayya.
He explains that every mint across the world embosses a unique symbol on each coin. Coins from the Mumbai mint have a small diamond under the year, coins from Noida have a dot and those from Hyderbad come with a small star. Coins with no symbol are from the Kolkata mint.
The trend of collecting stamps under different themes begun in 1970, he says. His many themes have won six national awards.
Krishnayya and his son M K Vishwesh laugh when asked how large their stamp collection is. “We have lost count as we keep adding to the collection daily,” Vishwesh says.
The father-son duo has compiled 14 sheets of stamps under the theme of cats and dogs, 48 sheets on hoofed animals and 32 sheets on primates and roses. They are now working on tracing banking development in India through stamps and stationery.
The incomplete work on tracing postal stationary in independent India—which comprises colourful telegrams—will surely be an eye-opener for many. Krishnayya is also collecting stamps on India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Krishnayya avoided opportunities of displaying stamps in exhibitions abroad as it would have been very expensive to transport the collections.
His most prized stamps are the ones from the 18th century, he says. They include CD stamps, DVD stamps, plastic-moulded stamps, gold-foiled and -embossed stamps, khadi stamps and rotating stamps. Fishing out a book titled Unique Stamps Of The World, he shows the world’s largest strip of stamps. He is dismayed that he could not trace a collector stamp on the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 issued by New Zealand. He says that most of the stamps he has were procured through a barter system through a well-known network of collectors.
On whether he would offer his vast collection of stamps for display at the bank’s museum, he says that his family would not agree. His family includes his wife Vidyavathy, eldest son Subrahmanya, daughter-in-law Amitha, daughter Rajashree and son-in-law Jagannivas.
“One must have a hobby as it increases knowledge and mental capabilities, and offers happiness and solace from life’s increasing problems,” he says. Krishnayya says that by the time the founder of Corporation Bank died in 1953, all his friends and family had deserted him due to his philanthropic nature. He died penniless.
The rare pictures of his coffin surrounded by a sea of people is sure to leave the museum’s visitors with mixed feelings.
The Heritage from days of yore
● The series of exhibits—modelled on the London Museum with over 2,000 coins—begins with Gandharva coins dating back to 400 BC
● Commemorative coins of India in denominations up to Rs 1,000 have been the museum’s recent acquisitions
● Every mint across the world embosses a unique symbol on each coin. Coins from the Mumbai mint have a small diamond under the year, coins from Noida have a dot and those from Hyderbad come with a small star. Coins with no symbol are from the Kolkata mint
● Most of the stamps were procured through a barter system through a well-known network of collectors