Call to release more stamps on Lord Shiva

PATNA: There are only two stamps depicting Lord Shiva and both are in the Natraj (dancing) pose. The first one is part of an archaeological series that was released in 1949 while the other was released in 2003.
City-based philatelist Pradip Jain no stamps were ever released on the occasion of Mahashivaratri depicting Lord Shiva in all his splendours. “Many foreign countries have come up with stamps on Shiva and Mahashivaratri.Countries like Nepal, Germany, Guyana and Czech Republic had released stamps depicting Lord Shiva earlier on,” Jain said, adding, “Nepal released a stamp on Mahashivaratri in 1959. Even Czech Republic released a stamp on the occasion on February 21, 2007. Guyana, South American country, had also released a Lord Shiva stamp in 2011.”
Thailand had released a Lord Shiva stamp on June 2, 2009. Nepal has several other Lord Shiva stamps which were released in 1949, 1966 and 1985.
“India should come up with more stamps on Lord Shiva. The depiction of Shiva on the stamps has cultural significance. Stamps play the role of an ambassador as they move around the world representing the country,” said Jain.
Jain is the only member from Bihar that is part of an expert group from India at the Association Internationale des Experts en Philatelie (AIEP), Europe. His collections include thousands of stamps and postal cards.