The two stamps illustrating scenes from his great works viz., the Meghaduta and the Sakuntala are being issued on the first day of Asadha (June 22, 1960), the day on which the Yaksa of the Meghaduta, while sojourning in Ramagiri, appealed to the Cloud to carry his message to his beloved in Alaka on Mount Kailash.
The picturization is based, in the first case, on a painting by Professor Radha Charan Bagchi of Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan, and, in the second, on a painting by the late Raja Ravi Varma celebrated in this country for his portrayals of figures and scenes from classical and mythological life and lore. Incidentally, this was the very first painting done by the Raja on Indian mythology in 1878. The designs of the two stamps have been executed by the staff artists of the India Security Press—P. B. Chitnis and K. M. Dhar.
The scene from the Sakuntala depicts the incident of her writing a love-letter to her beloved Dusyanta in the midst of the sylvan beauty of the hermitage of her adopted father, the sage Kanva. The scene from the Meghaduta represents the Yaksa, pleading with the Cloud to convey his message of love and pathos to his beloved in far-off Alaka.
The stamps bear as theme the following verses out of the two works that they seek to represent:—
Select extracts of Kalidasa’s works are also appended in this brochure to bring out the various qualities and characteristics of his works and art. They are by no means a substitute for a study of the original but are intended only to provide a small window to the wide vista of his works and art.
- Abhijnana-Sakuntala III. 13.
The cover of this brochure bears an imprint of the beautiful terracotta medallion found at Bhita Excavations in the year 1872. Measuring 3" in diameter, it carries a scene from Kalidasa’s Sakuntala, in which King Dusyanta with his charioteer is being entreated not to kill the antelope which has fled for refuge to Kanva’s hermitage. The verse corresponding to this scene is reproduced on the cover page and an English translation appears below.
Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India