Postal Museum: Postcard from the past

Bindu Gopal Rao

For the millennials, postal service is a thing of distant past. Many wouldn’t have a clue about several communication devices used a few decades back, or even the red letter box that’s still around. For them, a visit to Sandesh Museum of Communication in Bengaluru, which recently opened its doors to the public, would be an education of sorts. For the older generation, a visit will conjure the days when they would wait for the postman to come by and hand them the letters they had been awaiting.  

Housed in a 2000-plus square feet building that dates back to 1804 on the Museum Road, the heritage space was once occupied by the British. It housed Madras Bank at one point of time, and the Government Museum at another. 

The museum has six rooms, each of which has a name and a display to match. The first room, Sandesh, traces the history of stamps under three themes — Birth of the Nation (1857 to 1947), Indian Culture and Mysore Anche (1701 to 1889). Anche, incidentally, means local post in Kannada and Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar of Mysore state is credited with establishing a modern postal system in Mysore. This room has a display of stamps dedicated to Indian festivals, Indian literature, Hindustani & Carnatic music, Indian cinema and the Panchatantra. The second room, Samparka, has several communication instruments like the hand cradle telephone, AL (adding and listing) machine, morse transmitter, mail bomb detector, petromax light, Army postal uniforms and the quadrant scale — it was used to measure the thickness of paper. The third room, Samputa, has a display of old order books, bags and sorting cases as well as images of a floating post office on Dal Lake and the world's highest post office at Hikkim, located at an altitude of 14,567 feet above sea level.

The fourth room, Samvahana, has the VSAT apparatus that was used in the past for transmitting money orders. The fifth room, Sangathi, has a display of brass weights, raincoats and differently coloured bags used to collect mail. The last room, Sangraha, has a variety of philately frames. It doubles up as an activity room for children. In this room, you will see Philascop, a postage stamp viewer that magnifies the stamp. You will also find Signascope. It's a machine that reveals many aspects of the stamp like its watermarks, grills, paper irregularities, etc. It is used by experts to verify the authenticity of the stamp. There is an interactive station where children can attempt a quiz and win special covers. Step out from this room and you will find large post box models as well as vehicles (cycles and a bike) used by postmen to deliver letters. Do not miss the Caixa Postal box, used during the Portuguese times.

Among some other interesting things here is a book by Paul Fernandes, which has several colourful portraits. The museum also has a small book of postcards called ‘Bangalore Swinging’ in the 1970s. The museum also has a paid service which allows you get a stamp done with your image on it as a keepsake. When you are here, do take time out to see special documentary films on various aspects of postal services across the country. Entry to the museum is free and it's open on all working days except Sundays and government holidays. This museum is a must visit when you are in Bengaluru.  It's after all a great way to connect with one of the earliest forms of communication.

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