International Congress of Orientalists - XXVIth Congress 4.1.1964

The 26^th International Congress of Orientalists met at New Delhi on the 4^th January, 1964. The first session of the Congress was held in Paris in the year 1873. Subsequent sessions have been held usually at intervals of 3 or 4 years in different cities of the world.

The Congress deliberated on the advances made in researches into various aspects of the oriental heritage of mankind. The Congress had been divided into ten principal sections ranging from Egyptology and Indology to Islamic and African studies.

The Posts & Telegraphs Department issued a special stamp to commemorate the convening of the Congress in India on the 4^th January, 1964. Appropriately enough, the motif adopted in the stamp is the bronze figure of “DIPALAKSHMI” which signifies the spirit of illumination through study and investigation.