Arutprakasa Vallalar Chidambaram Ramalingam 17.8.2007

Arutprakasa Vallalar Chidambaram Ramalingam (5 October 1823 – disappeared on 30 January 1874), whose pre-monastic name was Ramalingam, is commonly known in India and across the world as Vallalar. He was one of the most famous Tamil Saints and also one of the greatest Tamil poets of the 19th century and belongs to a line of Tamil saints known as "gnana siddhars" (gnana means higher wisdom).

Muktabai 30.5.2003

Muktabai or Muktai was a saint in the Varkari tradition. She was born in a Deshastha Brahmin family and was the younger sister of Jñāneśvar, the first Varkari saint. Muktabai wrote forty-one abhangs throughout her life span.

Sant Ravidas 24.6.2001

Ravidas was a North Indian mystic Saint-poet of the bhakti movement. He was active in the 15th to 16th century CE. Venerated as a Guru (teacher) in the region of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, the devotional songs of Ravidas made a lasting impact upon the bhakti movement. He was a Saint-poet, social reformer and a spiritual figure. He is considered as the founder of 21st-century Ravidassia religion, by a group who previously were associated with Sikhism.

Sant Dnyaneshwar 5.3.1997

Dnyaneshwar or Dnyandev (1275–1296) was a 13th-century Marathi saint, poet, philosopher and yogi of the Nath tradition whose Dnyaneshvari (a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita) and Amrutanubhav are considered to be milestones in Marathi literature.

Dnyaneshwar was born in 13th century Maharashtra during the reign of the Yadava king Ramadevarava. The kingdom enjoyed peace and stability until invasions from the Delhi Sultanate started in 1296 CE. Arts and sciences flourished under the patronage of the Yadava kings and Maharashtra attracted scholars from all over India. However, this period also witnessed religious degeneration, sectarianism, superstition and ritualism which involved animal sacrifices to many local deities. Dnyaneshwar would later criticise the religious degeneration of the day in his magnum opus Dnyaneshwari. According to B. P. Bahirat, Dnyaneshwar emerged as the first original philosopher who wrote in the Marathi language, in this era.

Biographical details of Dnyaneshwar's life are preserved in the writings of his contemporary Namdev and his disciples Satyamalanath and Sachchidanand The various traditions give conflicting accounts of details of Dnyaneshwar's life. The date of composition of his work Dnyaneshwari (1290), however is undisputed.  

Ramdas 1.5.1988

Ramdas was a noted 17th-century saint and spiritual poet of Maharashtra. He is most remembered for his Advaita Vendatist text, theDasbodh. Ramdas was a devotee of Hanuman and Rama. His teaching of not losing patience and having faith in the face of adversities, and being fearless in difficult situations helped people deal with dangerous conditions.

He chose Hanuman, who was extremely strong, would valiantly face enemies and emerge victorious, as a role model for the common man to combat murderous opponents. Lord Ram, who killed Ravana and helped the Gods who were captured by him, was another role model he chose. He felt that their personalities and characteristics would be ideal for the masses to follow.

His most popular composition is the Marathi Aarti to Lord Ganesh Sukhakarta Dukhaharta. He also composed several other Aartis such as Satrane Uddane Hunkaar Vadani to Lord Hanuman and Panchanan haivahan surabhushan lila to Lord Khandoba. The most famous book written by Samarth Ramdas, "Dasbodh" has been translated into most of the prominent Indian languages, and available to readers all over the world. The original copy of Dasbodh which was written by his disciple is in the Domgaon Mutt.

He saw to it that people became fearless through the work of volunteers of his sect who in fact were staunch disciples of Shree Samarth. This was probably the only example of a saint leading a political movement and that too a winning one. He thus proved to be unique among a galaxy of saints India ever produced.

Namdev

Namdev, also transliterated as Namdeo and Namadeva, (traditionally, c. 1270 – c. 1350 CE) was a poet-saint who is significant to the Varkari sect of Hinduism. He is also venerated in Sikhism. Most of the spiritual messages of Namdev emphasized the importance of living the life of a householder and that through marriage and having a family, one could attain moksha.

Valmiki

The Sage Valmiki is the reputed author of the most popular Sanskrit epic-Ramayana. He is stated to be a contemporary of Rama, the hero of his epic. Ramayana is called the Adikavya-the first portry in classical Sanskrit and in its present form is dated variously by scholars like Prof. Jacobi as 6th Century B.C., by Dr. Keith as 4th Century B.C. and by Dr. Winternitz as 3rd Century B.C.   

The date of Valmiki existence is unknown and uncertain. There are several anecdotes narrated about his life. One of them states that he was a bandit in his early life and repented his actions when it was pointed out to him that he alone would answer for his misdeeds, since none of those sharing in his earnings would share his misfortunes, when they would inevitably arrive. The origin of this fable cannot be ascertained, though it finds a place in a later composition called the 'Adhyatma-Ramayana'. His very name is said to be a later acquisition and not his original name. Practising penance for his misdeeds, he became enveloped by an ant-hill(Valmika) from which he had to be dug out and hence he came to be known as Valmiki--born from Valmika.

Valmiki's Ramayana will always be one of the world's greatest epics.

The Posts and Telegraphs Department brought out a special commemorative stamp in honour of Maharsi Valmiki, on the occasion of his Jayanti Celebration on the 14th October, 1970. The design of the stamp depicts Maharsi Valmiki and the main characters of Ramayana, "Rama, Sita and Lakshman".

Narayana Guru

Narayana Guru (1854–1928), was a Hindu saint, sadhu and social reformer of India. He was born into an Ezhava family, in an era when people from that community and other communities that were regarded as Avarna faced much social injustice in the caste-ridden society of Kerala. Gurudevan, as he was known by his followers, led a reform movement in Kerala, rejected casteism and promoted new values of spiritual freedom and social equality.

He stressed the need for the spiritual and social uplifting of the downtrodden by their own efforts through the establishment of temples and educational institutions. In the process he denounced the superstitions that clouded the fundamental Hindu cultural convention of caste.

Narsinh Mehta

Narsinh Mehta also known as Narsi Mehta or Narsi Bhagat (1414–1481) was a poet-saint of Gujarat, India, and a member of the Brahmin Nagar community, notable as a bhakta, an exponent of Vaishnava poetry. He is especially revered in Gujarati literature, where he is acclaimed as its Adi Kavi (Sanskrit for "first among poets"). His bhajan, Vaishnav Jan To was Mahatma Gandhi's favourite and has become synonymous to him.

Vidyapati

The Indian Posts and telegraphs department issued a special commemorative stamp on the 17th November 1965 in honour of Vidyapati a great poet at the VIDYAPATI-MATHA The spot where Vidyapati breathed his last (Bajitpur, Dist Darbhanga).

Vidyapati (1352 – 1448), also known by the sobriquet Maithil Kavi Kokil (the poet cuckoo of Maithili) was a Maithili poet and a Sanskrit writer. He was born in the village Bisfi in Madhubani district of Mithila Region of India. He was son of Ganapati. The nameVidyapati is derived from two Sanskrit words, Vidya (knowledge) and Pati (master), connoting thereby, a man of knowledge.

Vidyapati's poetry was widely influential in centuries to come, in the Hindustani as well as Bengali and other Eastern literary traditions. Indeed, the language at the time of Vidyapati, the prakrit-derived late abahatta, had just begun to transition into early versions of the Eastern languages, Maithili, Bengali, Oriya, etc. Thus, Vidyapati's influence on making these languages has been described as "analogous to that of Dante in Italy and Chaucer in England."

Vidyapati is as much known for his love-lyrics as for his poetry dedicated to Shiva. His language is closest to Maithili, the language spoken around Mithila (a region in the north Bihar and region surrounding Janakpur in Nepal), closely related to the abahattha form of early Bengali.

The love songs of Vidyapati, which describe the sensuous love story of Radha and Krishna, follow a long line of Vaishnav love poetry, popular in Eastern India, and include much celebrated poetry such as Jayadeva's Gita Govinda of the 12th century. This tradition which uses the language of physical love to describe spiritual love, was a reflection of a key turn in Hinduism, initiated by Ramanuja in the 11th century which advocated an individual self-realization through direct love. Similar to the reformation in Christianity, this movement empowered the common man to realize God directly, without the intervention of learned priests. Part of the transformation was also a shift to local languages as opposed to the formal Sanskrit of the religious texts.

The songs he wrote as prayers to Lord Shiva are still sung in Mithila and form a rich tradition of sweet and lovely folk songs.

Kalidasa Overprint 2.2.1963

The stamp was issued in 1960 (see my post dated 15.9.2014) to honour Kalidasa a 5th Century poet and dramatist. The stamp was overprinted and reissued on 2.2.1963 with a new value of Re.1. This was done due to change in overseas postal rates

Indian Saint Poets 1.10.1952

This is one of the most sought after stamp issues in India. It honours six of India's most revered and renowned saints and poets. Kabir, Tulsidas, Mira Bai, Surdas, Ghalib and Rabindra Nath Tagore. It is not my intention here to describe these saints and poets, suffice it to say that reams and reams have been written about them. The folder shown below has six pages with a page devoted to each of these great personalities.

Cancellations in both Hindi & English were. Normally different variations are not found in cachets of FDCs issued by Indian Post & Telegraph Department. However, it is noteworthy to see variations in engraved design of the FDCs of stamps of Saints & Poets, which are the first issues printed by 'Photogravure' in India and were released on 1-10-1952. The English cancellation month is shown in letters as '1 OCT 1952'. While in Hindi cancellation it is shown in numeric as '1-10-1952'.