Unique passport for landmarks across Karnataka

Nearly 300 people in Bengaluru are on a waiting list for a ‘passport’ that lets them collect permanent pictorial cancellations (PPCs) from all districts of Karnataka. These are special postmarks featuring images of landmarks and local culture, issued by select post offices.

Since November 2024, the Karnataka Postal Circle has been issuing a pocket-sized booklet called the Philately Passport. It contains brief information on each landmark, with a facing page where visitors can affix a stamp and have it cancelled with the PPC linked to that site.

So far, about 1,000 passports have been released in limited batches in English, Kannada, and Hindi. The first edition featured 80 landmarks, the second 20, and the latest edition, released two months ago, combined both to cover 100 sites. The most recent batch of 85 copies sold out within two days. The next batch is expected in about 15 days, Metrolife has learnt.

‘A treasure hunt of sorts’

The Philately Passport returned to the spotlight about two weeks ago after an Instagram reel by Bengaluru couple Shashank Punia and Shruti Tyagi went viral. The video opens with Shruti asking “Did you know Karnataka has its own passport?” and follows the duo as they get the pages of their red-coloured booklet ‘cancelled’ at the General Post Office (GPO) on Raj Bhavan Road and at post offices along Ambedkar Veedhi, Museum Road, Jayanagar, and Basavanagudi. These cancellations respectively depict Vidhana Soudha, the Beaulieu heritage mansion, the Sandesh Museum of Communication, the Ashoka Pillar, and a Kempegowda Tower. The reel garnered over 7,000 shares and 6,500 likes, triggering a flood of comments from viewers asking where they could get one.

Neither Punia nor Shruti are stamp collectors. Punia is a hardware designer, while Shruti works as an SAP consultant. Both enjoy travelling and creating content, and the Philately Passport fit neatly into their interests. The couple had been eyeing the booklet since last November and had left their details at the philatelic bureau at the GPO, but never heard back. Last month, when they found it on an online philately platform, they decided to buy it, even though it was priced Rs 300 above the official rate.

“This passport turns an ordinary trip to a post office into a treasure hunt of sorts,” says Punia. “The last time I pasted a stamp was in school, on an envelope. But this time, we were excitedly rummaging through boxes, looking for stamps that could pair well with the cancellations.” For instance, they bought Ambedkar stamps while visiting the Ambedkar Veedhi post office. In all, they purchased around 30 stamps worth nearly Rs 600, including issues on Harappa and Mohenjodaro, 150 Years of ‘Vande Mataram’, and the 75th anniversary of the first flag hoisting at Port Blair.

The philatelic trail includes 10 landmarks in Bengaluru, and Punia says it proved educational. “Though I am from the city, I didn’t know that the architecture of the Vidhana Soudha incorporates elements of Indo-Saracenic and Dravidian styles, that the Ashoka Pillar marking the start of Jayanagar was built for just Rs 3,000, or that Museum Road is named after a government museum that once stood there. All this is printed in the passport,” he says.

The couple is heading to Udupi this weekend, where “visiting post offices and getting cancellation marks” is on their itinerary alongside beaches and food. Udupi has the highest number of PPCs in the state, with 16.

Meanwhile, Harish P Selkey, an associate manager, is one cancellation away from getting his passport fully stamped. “I have 79 out of 80 cancellations. Only the Nagarhole cancellation is pending. When I went there, their equipment wasn’t working. I have been following up, but they say it hasn’t returned from repairs,” says the 28-year-old.

A philatelist and avid traveller, Selkey enjoys undertaking themed trips. In 2024, he travelled to all 12 jyotirlingas and 18 shakti peethas in India, so the philatelic trail felt like a good challenge to attempt. He spent two months on the trail in 2025, biking across Bengaluru and relying on buses, trains, and hitchhiking elsewhere. He says locals often went out of their way to help him. “In Yadgir, a staff member from the Bonhal post office came to pick me up from the bus stand because buses are infrequent and the post office is in a remote area. In Shivamogga’s Humcha post office, I was given a special cover as a return gift in appreciation of my travel adventures. In Kokrebellur in Maddur, a staff member waited past closing time to stamp the cancellation mark on my passport. In Chamarajanagar, an elderly man insisted I hop onto his cycle and took me to the post office,” he recalls.

To make the journey more memorable, Selkey visited as many landmarks depicted on the PPCs as possible and clicked a selfie at each site, except where photography was prohibited or access was impossible.

Though he has travelled across Karnataka many times, Selkey says the philatelic trail introduced him to lesser-known cultural sites. “Some places, like a remote temple near Saundatti in Belagavi district, don’t get much attention,” he says.

However, both Punia and Selkey admit they sometimes encountered confusion at post offices. Some staff members were unaware of the initiative, while others were “reluctant”, as it disrupted their routine work. “We went to the High Court post office, but the staff had no idea about the passport. We were asked to get permission letters and other clearances. When we called the administrative office, they too said that one cannot enter the court without a written letter of approval. We ended up wasting an hour and dropped the idea,” recalls Punia. Selkey believes this may be because government staff are frequently transferred, leading to gaps in the transfer of institutional knowledge. A postal development official said that circulars have been sent to all designated post offices, but acknowledged that such gaps can arise due to transfers.

How to get it

The Philately Passport can be purchased from philatelic bureaus in Bengaluru (GPO), Mysuru, Mangaluru, and Belagavi for Rs 700. The next batch is expected in about 15 days. According to the Bengaluru GPO’s philatelic bureau, nearly 90% of buyers are young people, including content creators, travellers, and bikers. For door delivery and other enquiries, write to philatelybggpo.ka@indiapost.

‘Maximum interest from Bengaluru’

The team at the Bengaluru GPO’s philatelic bureau says the initiative has seen the maximum response from Bengaluru, with nearly 90% of buyers being young people, including content creators, travellers, and bikers. The initiative aims to promote philately and postal stationery among youngsters, while also tying into their thirst for travel. For instance, not many people know about the Blackbuck Sanctuary in Ranebennur, which has its own cancellation, the team points out.

Cancellations from Bengaluru GPO, Bannerghatta, Nandi Hills, Hampi, and Gol Gumbaz are especially popular among bikers. People from Kerala, Jaipur, and the Northeast also seek the passport to use during their travels to Karnataka. Some avid philatelists even courier their passports to post offices to have them cancelled and sent back, instead of travelling to the sites themselves.

The oldest PPC in the state is for the Stone Chariot in Hampi, dating back to 1978, while Bengaluru’s oldest, Vidhana Soudha, dates to 1979.