First Three Stamps of India on 21.11.1947 & Jai Hind Postmark 1947

These are the First stamps of the Post Independence India issued in 1947. They are known as the Jai Hind Series of stamps. Jai Hind means “Long Live India” in Hindi.
I was fortunate to get these mint stamps. It so happened that in 1954 a stamp exhibition to commemorate the Centenary of the first Indian stamp issued in 1854, was held on Jan Path near Connaught Circus. My Parents, My sister and I visited this wonderful exhibition. As we were coming out after listening to a talk by Mr. Jal Cooper (the world famous philatelist) from a small makeshift auditorium, a gentleman from the Post and Telegraph Department came with two of his assistants carrying stamp albums for sale. These souvenir albums had all the stamps issued by India from 1948 to 1954 in their mint state. The cost of each album was then a princely sum of Rupees Sixty three. My parents purchased two of these albums one each for my Sister and myself. I have preserved these albums to this day. They are as good as new.

1. Indian Tri Color national flag: 3-1/2 Anna ,Date of issue : 21.11.1947.
The first independent Indian postage stamp (For Domestic usage) portrayed the Indian tri color national flag with the date of independence 15 Aug 1947 in the left and the Jai Hind in Hindi at the right side of the national flag.

2. Governament of India emblem - Ashokan pillar : 1-1/2 Anna ,Date of issue : 15.12.1947.
The second independent india postage stamp (Foreign usage) portrayed the Indian Governament emblem of Ashokan pillar. On top of the Ashokan pillar inscripts the word "Jai Hind" in hindi and the date of indian independence 15th Aug 1947.

The emblem of India is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath, preserved in the Sarnath Museum in India.

In the original Sarnath capital (which is currently situated in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India) there are four Asiatic lions standing back to back - symbolizing power, courage, pride, and confidence - mounted on a circular abacus. The abacus is girded with a frieze of sculptures in high relief of an elephant (of the east), a horse (of the west), a bull (of the south), and a lion (of the north), separated by intervening wheels, over a lotus in full bloom, exemplifying the fountainhead of life and creative inspiration. Carved out of a single block of polished sandstone, the capital is crowned by the Wheel of the Law (Dharma Chakra).

Emperor Ashoka the Great, guided by his first wife, Samragyi (Empress) Vidisha Devi, who was a Buddhist, erected the capital to mark the spot where Gautama Buddha first taught the Dharma and where the Buddhist Sangha was founded. Forming an integral part of the emblem is the motto inscribed below the abacus in Devanagari script: Satyameva jayate सत्यमेव जयते (English: Truth Alone Triumphs). This is a quote from Mundaka Upanishad, the concluding part of the sacred Hindu Vedas.

3. Douglas Aeroplane: 12 Anna ,Date of issue : 15.12.1947
The third postage stamp of independent india (For Foreign Airmail usage) portrayed the Aeroplane (Douglas DC-4). On top the word "Jai Hind" was inscripted and at the bottom the date of indian independence 15th Aug 1947 was inscripted.
All the three stamps were printed at the Governament security press at Nasik.
I am also displaying a cover with the Ashokan pillar stamp with the Jai Hind postmark.