Historic Town of Sukhothai and Associated Historic Towns

Card No 117 By my Niece Deepa
The Historic Town of Sukhothai and Associated Historic Towns is a Unesco World Heritage site which consists of Sukhothai historical park, Kamphaeng Phet historical park and Si Satchanalai historical park. These historical parks preserve the remains of the three main cities of the Sukhothai Kingdom which had flourished during the 13th and 14th century CE.

Sukhothai historical park Read more
Kamphaeng Phet historical park Read more
Si Satchanalai historical park Read more

Information Obtained From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes

Card No 116Another WH-UNESCO postcard from postcrossing Chang

Jejudo is a volcanic island, 130 kilometers from the southern coast of Korea. A central feature of Jeju is Hallasan, the tallest mountain in South Korea and a dormant volcano, which rises 1,950 meters above sea level. The last volcanic activity was recorded approximately 800 years ago. Read more

Image Obtained from http://whc.unesco.org

Seventeenth-century canal ring area of Amsterdam inside the Singelgracht

Card No 115Another WH-UNESCO postcard from postcrossing Stenne

Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands, has been called the "Venice of the North" for its more than one hundred kilometres of canals, about 90 islands and 1,500 bridges. The three main canals, Herengracht, Prinsengracht, and Keizersgracht, dug in the 17th century during the Dutch Golden Age, form concentric belts around the city, known as the grachtengordel. Alongside the main canals are 1550 monumenthttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifal buildings. The 17th-century canal ring area, including the Prinsengracht, Keizersgracht, Herengracht and Jordaan, are put on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Read more

Notable canals in the Canal Belt

Singel
Herengracht
Keizersgracht
Prinsengracht

Other notable canals

Zwanenburgwal
Brouwersgracht
Kloveniersburgwal
Brantasgracht, Lamonggracht, Majanggracht and Seranggracht

Information Obtained From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cultural Sites of Al Ain (Hafit, Hili, Bidaa Bint Saud and Oases Areas)

Card No 114Send to me by Ganesh

The Cultural Sites of Al Ain (Hafit, Hili, Bidaa Bint Saud and Oases Areas) constitute a serial property that testifies to sedentary human occupation of a desert region since the Neolithic period with vestiges of many prehistoric cultures. Remarkable vestiges in the property include circular stone tombs (ca 2500 B.C.), wells and a wide range of adobe constructions: residential buildings, towers, palaces and administrative buildings. Hili moreover features one of the oldest examples of the sophisticated aflaj irrigation system which dates back to the Iron Age. The property provides important testimony to the transition of cultures in the region from hunting and gathering to sedentarization.
Information Obtained from http://whc.unesco.org

Jayadeva and Geetagovinda

27th July 2009

Jayadeva was a Sanskrit poet circa 1200 AD. He is most known for his composition, the epic poem Gita Govinda, which depicts the divine love of Krishna-an avatar of Vishnu and his consort, Radha, and it is mentioned that Radha is greater than Hari, and is considered an important text in the Bhakti movement of Hinduism. He was born to an Kama bajrajana Buddhist family. Read more
Information Obtained From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2550 Years of Mahaparinirvana of The Buddha

2nd May 2007

Old Town of Segovia and Its Aqueduct

Card No 113Send to me by Fabienne

Old Town of Segovia and Its Aqueduct

Card No 113Send to me by Fabienne
In 1985 the old city of Segovia and its Aqueduct were declared World Heritage by UNESCO. Within the environment of the old city, stand diversity of historic buildings both civil and religious, not just catholics but also jews, like the district that served this minority, which commemorates the different cultures in the city. Among its monuments are:

The Aqueduct of Segovia, located in the emblematic Plaza del Azoguejo, is the staple of the city. The date of its construction, which could be carried out at the end of the 1st century or early 2nd century, and it is the roman civil engineering work most important in Spain. was applied to about 25,000 granite blocks together without any mortar, has a length of 818 meters, consists of more than 170 bows and hand highest is 29 meters, as it reaches the Azoguejo, the most visited area.

The Alcazar of Segovia, the royal palace located on top of a rock between the rivers Eresma and Clamores, is documented for the first time in 1122, although it may exist in earlier time. It was one of the favorite residences of the kings of Castile, built in the transition from Romanesque to Gothic and mudejar decor highlighting its ample rooms. The building is structured around two courtyards and has two towers, the Keep and John II. It was a favorite residence of Alfonso X the Wise and Henry IV, and Isabella the Catholic left him to be crowned Queen of Castile in the main square. Devastated by fire in 1862, was later rebuilt. Now houses the General Militar de Segovia archive and museum of the Royal School of Artillery, managed by the Board of the Alcazar.

The Segovia Cathedral is the last Gothic cathedral built in Spain. It is considered the masterpiece of Basque-Castilian Gothic and is known as "The Lady of Cathedrals." This is the third largest cathedral in the city, and retains the cloister of the second, located opposite the castle and destroyed during the Revolt of the Comuneros in 1520. In his works he worked Juan and Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón, and other teachers of Spanish architecture. It was consecrated in 1768 and has dimensions of 105 meters long, 50 meters wide and 33 high in the nave, has 18 chapels and has three doors: El Perdón, San Frutos and San Geroteo, first bishop of the diocese.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

The Walls of Segovia existed when Alfonso VI of Castile took the city to the Arabs, who commanded a larger coming to have a perimeter of 3 kilometers, eighty towers, five doors and several doors. It was built mainly with granite blocks, but also reused gravestones of the Roman necropolis. The wall runs along the old, and currently maintains three doors: San Cebrián, of great austerity, Santiago, of mudejar looking, and San Andrés, gateway to the jewish quarter, and the breaches of Consuelo, San Juan, the Sun and Moon. Read more
Information Obtained From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aranjuez Cultural Landscape

Card No 112
Send to me by Fabienne

The Royal Palace of Aranjuez is a residence of the King of Spain, located in the town of Aranjuez, Community of Madrid, Spain. It was commissioned by Philip II and designed by Juan Bautista de Toledo and Juan de Herrera, who also designed El Escorial. It was completed during the reign of Ferdinand VI by the mid-18th century; Charles III had two wings added to it. Read more

Monasteries of Bhutan

From left: Taktsang Monastery, Kicha Monastery, Kurjey Monastery, Jambay Monastery

Burgos Cathedral

Card No: 111

Send to me by Fabienne

The Burgos Cathedral is a Gothic-style Roman Catholic cathedral in Burgos, Spain. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and is famous for its vast size and unique architecture. Its construction began in 1221, and was in use nine years later, although work continued on and off for two hundred years. At the beginning of the 20th century, some semidetached construction to the cathedral was eliminated, such as the Archepiscopal Palace and the upper floor of the cloister. The style of the cathedral is Gothic, although it has inside some Renaissance and Baroque decorations. It had very important modifications in the 15th and 16th centuries. The cathedral was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO on October 31, 1984. It is the only Spanish cathedral that has this distinction independently, without being joined to the historic center of a city (as in Salamanca, Santiago de Compostela, Ávila, Córdoba, Toledo, Alcalá de Henares or Cuenca) or in union with others buildings, as in Seville. Read more

Old City of Salamanca

Card No 110

Send to me by Fabienne

Salamanca is a city in western Spain. Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988 for it's beautiful buildings and urban environment. The city was founded in the pre-Ancient Rome period by the Vacceos, a Celtic tribe, as one of a pair of forts to defend their territory near the Duero river. In the 3rd century BC, Hannibal laid siege to the city. With the fall of the Carthaginians to the Romans, the city of Helmantica, as it was known, began to take more importance as a commercial hub in the Roman Hispania due to its favorable location. Salamanca lay on a Roman road, known as the Vía de la Plata, which connected it with Emerita Augusta (present day Mérida) to the south and Asturica Augusta (present-day Astorga) to the north. Its Roman bridge dates from the first century, and was a part of this road. Read more

Old Cathedral of Salamanca, built in the 12th century.

New Cathedral of Salamanca, built in the 16th century.

Information and Image Obtained From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Silent Valley

Silent Valley National Park is located in the Nilgiri Hills, Palakkad District in Kerala, South India. The area in this national park was historically explored in 1847 by the botanist Robert Wight, and is associated with Hindu legend. The Western Ghats World Heritage Site, Nilgiri Sub-Cluster under consideration by UNESCO.

The area is locally known as "Sairandhrivanam" literally, in Malayalam: Sairandhri's Forest. In local Hindu legend, Sairandhri is Draupadi, the polyandrous wife of the five Pandavas, who disguised herself as Sairandhri, queen Sudeshna's assistant, while they were in exile.[4] The Pandavas, deprived of their kingdom, set out on a 14-year exile. They wandered south, into what is now Kerala, until one day they came upon a magical valley where rolling grasslands met wooded ravines, a deep green river bubbled its course through impenetrable forest, where at dawn and twilight the tiger and elephant would drink together at the water's edge, where all was harmonious and man unknown. Beside that river, in a cave on a hill slope, the Pandavas halted. Read more

India - China: Joint Issue

Date of issues:11th July 2008

The Mahabodhi Temple is a Buddhist temple in Bodh Gaya, the location where Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, attained enlightenment. Bodh Gaya is located about 96 km (60 mi) from Patna, Bihar state, India. Next to the temple, to its western side, is the holy Bodhi tree. In the Pali Canon, the site is called Bodhimanda, and the monastery there the Bodhimanda Vihara. The tallest tower is 55 metres (180 ft) tall. In June 2002, the Mahabodhi Temple became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

See postcard and read more about Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya

White Horse Temple is, according to tradition, the first Buddhist temple in China, established in 68 AD under the patronage of Emperor Ming in the Eastern Han capital Luoyang. Read more great history about this Historical temple.

Information Obtained From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Postal Heritage Building, WPE 2011

Date of issues:13th May 2010

Lucknow GPO-Lucknow GPO is an example of relatively more contemporary engineering and architecture. Constructed with red brick and lime stone, iron was not used in its construction.A stone embedded on the main gate of the GPO dates the buildings as 1929-1932.

Shimla GPO-Shimla GPO on the Mall,established in 1883 on the site of a house known and as ”Cony Lodge”, is one of the oldest Post Office Buildings in the Country.During the British Raj, Shimla was the summer capital.

Delhi GPO-Delhi GPO is among the very few buildings of India Post which has been given the status of Heritage Building by the Archaeological Survey of India and is is in close proximity to the historical Red Fort and Chandni Chowk.

Nagpur GPO-Nagpur GPO considered the mother institution in the Postal Circle of the Central Province, is housed in a majestic Victorian building, once the seat of erstwhile Postmaster General Of CP & Berar.

Cooch Behar HPO-Cooch Behar HPO in 1875 the Post & Telegraph Office Of the Cooch Behar state is learnt to have been introduced under the administrative control of Rangpur Postal Division.

Udagamandalam HPO-Udagmandalam HPO The first Post Office at Udagamandalam was opened in 1826 with an establishment of a writer and two delivery peons.There are no records as to where the office originally was.

Information Obtained from philatelynews.com

Indian Spices

Date of issues: 29th April 2009
Black pepper, Cinnamon, Clove, Criander, Turmeric, Chilly, Cardamon

Singapore to preserve two historical railway stations

SINGAPORE: The Tanjung Pagar Railway Station, also known as the Keppel Road Railway station, is of great historical and sentimental value, not only for Singapore but also its neighbour, Malaysia.

Come July 1, 2011 the curtains will close on both the Tanjung Pagar and the Bukit Timah station as Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) terminates its rail services in the republic at the Woodlands Train Checkpoint (WTCP).

Both the Tanjung Pagar, which opened in 1932, and Bukit Timah, opening in 1903, are set to see a new role, but their buildings and legacies are to be preserved.

According to the Malaysian High Commissioner to Singapore, Datuk Md Hussin Nayan, the move to list both stations as heritage centres is part of the Malaysia-Singapore Points of Agreement (POA) concluded in 1990.

He told Bernama that the Tanjung Pagar station, especially, has sentimental value to many Malaysians, and it reflects the social and cultural ties between the causeway.

Md Hussin said the preparation for KTM services to terminate at WTCP is progressing well and is on schedule.

In view of their deep historical significance, and to protect physical reminders of both stations' rich heritage, the Singapore government recently announced its commitment to preserve both. -- Bernama

Information Obtained from thestar.com.my

Frogs of Malaysia

Visit Malaysia 2007

Clock Towers, Fraser's Hill