Jal Mahal, India

When going through my cards and trying to make a choice of what to post today, more often than not I was like, oh have I really received this, this year?? At times it feels like it is something from ages ago... or it might be cos this year has been as it has been and I have some distorted sense of time....

I dont know about you, but whenever I see this card I read Taj Mahal :D And actually back when I swapped for it, I was ready to argue, but this is not Taj Mahal,  and I have more than enough view cards from there anyway! Good that I took a better look before I spoke (cos something looked odd about the Taj Mahal) and I spared myself the embarrassment, haha...

Jal Mahal (which is said to mean Water Palace) is a palace in the middle of the Man Sagar Lake in Jaipur city, and the way it is secluded in the middle of the lake is what makes it so appealing to me and maybe even more beautiful than Taj Mahal and for sure less touristy.

the big stamp on the right is from 2018 from a set of 3, commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the First Flag Hoisting at Port Blair. The Yoga definitive next to it was issued in 2016, while on the left side, that guy in black and white is from a set of 16 definitives issued in 2016, showing Makers of India and this one is Bal Gangadhar Tilak, 1856-1920, who was an Indian nationalist, teacher, and an independence activist

Thanks to Thomas for this card.

Wadi Dhar, Yemen

Well, rainy days with not really great obligations, feels perfect to post some cards, right?

And the start is with a new country added to my collection...Yemen!

About 15km north of Sana'a is a green and fertile valley known as Wadi Dhahr (a wadi is a seasonal river, typically found in a deep narrow valley and dotted with oases.) Apart from various small, friendly villages scattered along its length and some spectacular rock formations, the main reason for visiting Wadi Dhahr is for the Dar al Hajar, Imam Yahya's rock palace. The palace is one of the main attractions in the area around Sana'a. Yayha was a despotic leader who's long campaign of guerilla action made life miserable for the occupying Ottoman Turk armies and who became the first King of post-Ottoman Yemen in 1923. He had this palace built as a summer residence in th 1930's although there are believed to have been much earlier settlements on the same site.

The Red Palace of the Potala, Tibet

The last card for today is my first one depicting something from Tibet, and being fascinated with the place and all those books I had read related to it, I really really treasure this card....plus it IS indeed a very nice one.

It shows the Red Palace of the Potala (there is a White Palace as well).
The Potala palace is considered to be the greatest monumental structure in Tibet. It was the main residing place of Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama had to flee to Dharamsala,India after an unsuccessful uprising in the year 1959. Now the Potala Palace has attained the title of a famous tourist attraction and also has been included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Site.The Potala Palace is so huge that the entire palace can be divided into various parts, about which we have collected the information and have compiled them on this site.
As for the Red Palace, it is completely devoted to the religious study and Buddhist prayers. This part of the Potala Palace contains a complete layout of halls, chapels, libraries, galleries and winding passages. The Great West Hall is the name given to the central hall of the Red Palace. It consists of four great chapels that have been attributed to honor the glory and power of the fifth Dalai Lama. The north side of this hall in the Potala Palace consists of the holiest shrine of Potala. This side of the Potala palace has been given the name of The Saint's Chapel. Another part of the Red Palace called the north Chapel has a crowned Sakymuni Buddha on the left and the fifth Dalai Lama on the right seated on a fabulous gold throne. The South chapel of the Red Palace in the Potala Palace focuses on Padmasambhava, the eighth Indian magician and his wife. The East Chapel in the Red Palace consists of the five golden stupas. The central stupa contains the mummified body of the fifth Dalai Lama.

Definitely something more than worth seeing one day.

the stamp on the right comes from a set of six (3x2) miniature landscapes, while the other one was issued the following year, 1997, and comes from an amazing miniature sheet of 8 stamps, called The World Postal Congress.

thats all for today.