Coin and special cover released to mark Tagore’s last visit to Mungpoo

Priyanka Dasgupta | TNN | Aug 21, 2016, KOLKATA: Seventy six years have passed by since Rabindranath Tagore last paid a visit to the sleepy hamlet of Mungpoo in the Darjeeling district. To commemorate the occasion, the Indian Post's West Bengal circle released a special cover on the Nobel laureate on Sunday afternoon.

Records say that on this day in 1940, Tagore had last visited this hamlet. If the cover designer's views are to be believed, there is a lot of interest among people to get hold their share of a piece of history.

Between 1938 and 1940, the poet had gone to Mungpoo four times over. The quiet ambience of the place lent itself to the environment the poet needed to pen his three poems, including 'Janmadin'. During his visit, he would stay at the bungalow of his protege, Maitreyi Devi who herself is a renowned author. Historical records state that he had first visited Mungpoo on May 21, 1938. The next year, he returned again on May 24. By September 12, he was back again. The last visit was on August 21, 1940. Memoirs of his stay in Mungpoo were published by Maitreyi Devi in her book titled "Mungpoote Rabindranath".

The bungalow where Tagore stayed was later converted into Rabindra Bhavan that is a museum of sorts of Tagore's photographs, paintings, writings and memoirs. "However, this bungalow is in acute need of restoration. Besides this bungalow, Mungpoo also has a Cinchona factory that is 150 years old. Both of them have a lot of historical significance," said well-known philatelist Alok K Goyal who is also the designer of the postal cover. A special medallion was also released to commemorate this event. While one has a bronze finish, the other is made of antique silver. The second coin has been designed to commemorate the 75th death anniversary of Tagore. On one side of the coin is inscribed a motif of the Jorasanko thakurbari. The other side has a statue of the poet. Each limited edition coin has been priced at Rs 1500.

To commemorate Tagore's last visit, the chief post master general of the West Bengal Circle released the special cover on Sunday afternoon. "We had designed two covers on Mahatma Gandhi. We had used a special technology called spot UV printing. Both glossy and matt looks are used. We had used both the technique for the Gandhiji covers. In case of Tagore's cover, we used an advanced version of the same technique. It is called high gloss UV with embossing. By using this technique, we can get the real feel of a statue on the cover," Goyal said.

special post mark was also designed for this cover. "It has a sketch of Tagore. Each cover is individually numbered with its price printed on the backside of the cover. Only 1000 pieces of these covers have been released," he said. They will be sold from ePost and Kolkata GPO's Philatelic Bureau. Each piece is being pitched as collector's item and is priced at Rs 100. "We have already been getting enquires regarding this from people who want to buy them for investment purposes," he said.
KalimNews: Dr. Samuel Rai, Director of Cinchona and other Medicinal Plants said that it is a matter of pride that the Rabindranath Tagore stayed in Mungpoo and to commemorate his last visit to Mungpooo the Indian Post's West Bengal circle released a special medallion coin and cover.