India, Joint issue with Vietnam ,

This mail I took by myself this morning at delivery post office. It was my friend, the sender who texted me that I should go there to take my mail as they has fail in delivering it. Then I checked the status of the mail on Vietnam tracking page and saw that they had tried to delivery it twice afternoon yesterday but no one at home and they had left an invitation paper to pick mail up at their post . I was surpris because of that status as my mom at home all yesterday and no paper left. So I thought that the postman wanted to save his time and simply he had just backed his office with the lie. I sent a reclaim mail to the post and still waiting for what happens next.

The sender used a lot of stamps from last joint issues between Vietnam and India on the architectural topic: Tour in the pagode Phổ Minh and Sanchi stupa. This souvernir sheet was issued on24th Jan, Vietnam version was released on 25th Jan, one day later.

The tour is located in the Phổ Minh Temple. Phổ Minh Temple (Vietnamese: Chùa Phổ Minh, Chinese: 普明寺) is a Buddhist temple in Tức Mặc village, 5 kilometres north of Nam Định city, Vietnam, the home town of the Trần Dynasty. According to official historical documents, the temple was built in 1262, west of the Trần Dynasty's Trung Quang Palace. But according to steles at the temple, the bell of the temple was made since the Lý Dynasty. The temple was possibly extensively renovated in 1262. Through many renovations, there still exist artistic relics from the Trần Dynasty.

The stupa is Great stupa in Sanchi Stupa. Sanchi Stupa, also written Sanci, is a Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the State of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located in 46 kilometres north-east of Bhopal, capital of Madhya Pradesh. The Great Stupa at Sanchi is one of the oldest stone structures in India and was originally commissioned by the emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE. Its nucleus was a simple hemispherical brick structure built over the relics of the Buddha. It was crowned by the chatra, a parasol-like structure symbolising high rank, which was intended to honour and shelter the relics. The original construction work of this stupa was overseen by Ashoka, whose wife Devi was the daughter of a merchant of nearby Vidisha. Sanchi was also her birthplace as well as the venue of her and Ashoka's wedding. In the 1st century BCE, four elaborately carved toranas (ornamental gateways) and a balustrade encircling the entire structure were added. The Sanchi Stupa built during Mauryan period was made of bricks. The complex flourished until the 11th century.

This orchid minisheet arrived inside the mail too. My last time I swapped with India was about 4 years ago, in 2014. But the stamps was not really facinated my eyes because of the quality of image eventhough the designs were very interesting. The paper and the image resolution were so bad so I had stopped to swap for India stamps for a while.

However, when I got this one. My mind was changed. They has ameliorated the quality of stamps a lot. They look so awesome now and I am happy to add them to my collection. Look how nice they are these orchids.

Another minisheet about ASEAN was issued on 25th Jan to show the cultural link beetween India and ASEAN countries. The second one from the right on the bottom rang (yeallow one) shows a vietnamese fesstival). It is Katé festival.

Kate Festival, or also called Mbang Kate, is organized by the Cham people for 3 days at the beginning of October. This event is held in a large space in the three Champa Towers (Po Nagar, Po Klong Garai and Po Rome). The main purpose of the festivals is to commemorate their heroes like Po Klong Garai and Po Rome, and also deaths in the families. Moreover, the festival is a chance for the local people to relax, to meet and wish one another fortune in the future.  

This is one of the biggest and most important events of the Cham people in Vietnam. Therefore, it is a good opportunity for the visitors to explore the beauty in the Cham culture, from architecture to costumes, instruments and traditional songs that are used to praise their kings in the past. The Kate festival in each tower starts at the same time on the same day, and the day after, villages and families begin to hold their own rites. During the rite, the people call their ancestors and gods with the help of a shaman, and then pray for health and prosperity. The actual festivals  take place after the rites. It is a combination of traditional music and dance, including some activities like performances of Ginang Drum and Saranai Flute or the traditional dance of Cham girls.

He gave me some "lucky money" too. I do not collect banknote but some of my swapper sent me some as a gift. They are really nice. Maybe I should begin my new collection.

Thank you so much Aditya!