India Post issues stamps depicting some of the events in Indian history created by Jain personalities of that time.
JainNewsViews.com had recently published an article on Jain history through stamps which we thought would be of interest so we have taken the liberty of repeating here.
Today we have brought a collection of the famous Jains who were felicitated by the government of India for their courage & amazing work in their fields by issuing postal stamps of them!
Chandragupta Maurya
Let’ s begin with Emperor Chandragupta Maurya!
Chandragupta Maurya was founder of the great Mauryan dynasty, He was the first emperor of greater India. His empire was spread almost all over the South Asia, excluding Sri Lanka. In Greek and Latin Chandragupta is also known by the names of “Sandracottos” or “Andracottus.
It is believed that Chandragupta Maurya adopted Jainism and became an ascetic (Jain Muni) under the Jain saint Acharya Shri Bhadrabahu. He ended his days at Śravaṇa Beḷgoḷa (in present day Karnataka) by sallekhana (death by fasting).
Bhama Shah
Bhama shah was born in 1542 in a Jain family. His father Bharmal Kavdia was Qiledar of Ranthambore Fort appointed by Rana Sanga and was later prime minister under Maharana Udai Singh II.
Bhamashah was a great warrior of medieval India. He was General and Prime Minister of Maharana Pratap. He took part in many battles against the mighty Mughals.
He was a staunch Jain and a patron of Jainism.
A Bhamashah Yojana has been started on his name by Government of Rajasthan.
Queen Abbakka
Queen Abbakka was the first queen to fight against European invaders in India. She defeated the mighty Portuguese army and navy. Greatness of this queen is that she fought for safeguarding the interest of the farmers, and the sovereignty of her state.
She belonged to Chowta dynasty, a Jain dynasty of medieval India!
The Chowtas followed the system of matrilineal inheritance (Aliyasantana) of Digambara Jain Bunt community by which Tirumala Raya, Abbakka’s uncle, crowned her the queen of Ullal.
The queen’s story has been retold from generation to generation through folk songs and Yakshagana, a popular folk theatre in Coastal Karnataka.
The Indian Coast Guard ship ICGS Rani Abbakka, the 1st of a series of five inshore patrol vessels (IPV) built at Hindustan Shipyard Ltd is named after Abbakka Mahadevi was commissioned in Visakhapatnam on January 20, 2012, and is based in Chennai
V.Shantaram
Shantaram was one of the greatest film directors and producers of Indian film Industry. His films were not just for entertainment, but to enlighten the viewers.
He was an actor too. He worked for 6 decades in Indian film industry. He was winner of Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest award in Indian film industry. He was awarded Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civil award in India.
He was born in 1901 at Kolhapur to a Marathi family with a Jain father and Hindu mother.
Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil
Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil was a great educationalist and social reformer of 20th century India. He founded Rayat Shikshan Sanstha, an educational institute to educate masses in rural areas. In his lifetime, he started 578 primary schools, 108 secondary schools, 8 training schools for teachers, 3 colleges and many hostels for students.Today Rayat Shikshan Sanstha is Asia’s biggest educational institution.
Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil was born in a Jain farmer’s family of south Maharashtra.
Seth Walchand Hiracand
Seth Walchand Hirachand was one of the great industrialists of India, who worked for industrial development of India. He was the first man to establish an aircraft factory in India. This factory was nationalized by Indian Government later, and now it is know as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
Seth Walchand Hirachand established first indigenous shipping company and competed with the British shipping companies. Further he established a Shipyard at Vishakhapattanam to build new ships. He founded Premier Automobiles, the first car factory of India.
Seth Walchand Hirachand was born in a Jain family of Maharashtra in 1882. He was also featured on a special postal cover issued on the occasion of National Maritime Day, 5th April 2010
Dr.Vikram Sarabhai
Dr. Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai was a great scientist and is known as the father of Indian Space Program.
He succeeded Homi Jehangir Bhabha as the chairman of Atomic Energy Commission of India. One of his greatest achievements was foundation of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization).
He was honored by awarding Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian award. After his death, the space center of India was named as Vikram Sarabhai Space Center.
Dr. Vikram Sarabhai was born in a Jain family of Ahmedabad.
Virachand Gandhi
Virchand Raghavaji Gandhi was the young man who represented Jainism in the first World Parliament of Religions held at Chicago, United States in 1893. He was a great Jain scholar and wrote 8 books on Jainism in English language. He was a world famous personality of his times.
He is known as Gandhi before Gandhi.
Dr.Jagadish Chandra Jain
Dr. Jagadish Chandra Jain was a renowned Indologist, scholar, thinker, linguist, writer and freedom fighter. He wrote about 80 books on various subjects.
This stamp features Dr. Jain’s portrait and Jain art in a Jain temple.
Dr.Daulat Singh Kothari
Dr. Daulat Singh Kothari is known as the father of Defense Science in India. He was a great scientist and educationalist. He worked as Scientific Advisor to the Ministry of Defense, India, and later as chairman of University Grants Commission.
He was brought up by his mother, a devout Jain and a generous lady. She was always willing to help others in need. Kothari was much influenced by his mother.
‘Nuclear Explosions and Their Effects’, Dr. Kothari’s book jointly written with Homi J. Bhabha, is one of his famous books. This book has been translated into German, Russian and Japanese languages.
Dr. Daulat Singh Kothari was honored by awarding Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civil award in India.
Dr.Laxmi Mall Singhvi
Dr. Laxmi Mall Singhvi was a multi-dimensional personality. He was an expert of Constitute of India, a Parliamentarian, a Jurist, a Lawyer, Diplomat and a scholar. He worked as The High Commissioner of India in England.
Shrimad Rajchandraji
Shrimadji was born on the auspicious day of kartik purnima, in V.S. 1924 (9th November, 1867). It was in the garb of an ordinary child that one of the future torchbearers of Jain religion was born, in the town of Vavania in Gujarat, India to Smt. Devba and Shri Ravjibhai Mehta.
Shrimad Rajchandraji was endowed with the extraordinary power of shatavdhan. Avdhan is the ability to concurrently be attentive to a number of activities and objects, and shat means one hundred. Thus shatavdhan is the ability to focus on one hundred different activities and objects – all at one time!
Information sourced by them from:
Wikipedia, Vigyan Prasar, Shrimad Rajchandra Mission & Indian Post