Bengaluru has a lengthy history with the postal service, spanning from the ancient Anche system of the Wodeyar monarchs to the General Post Office of the British era that originally stood in place of the current one. The Sandesha Museum of Communication, located on Museum Road, is a great place for history buffs and stamp collectors to visit.
First of all, the structure that currently houses the Sandesha Museum is entwined with the name of the road. Sandesha is only five years old, but its high-roofed colonial bungalow dates to the middle of the 1800s and is connected to the Government Museum, which is among India’s oldest museums.
The Government Museum, which is situated on Kasturba Gandhi Road, is located in a heritage structure that dates back to 1865. Prior to the completion of this building, the museum’s exhibits were temporarily held in two houses on Museum Road, one of which is currently the Sandesha Museum.
Relics from the postal service’s entire history are conserved at the Sandesha Museum. A metal pole with a stack of letters punctured through it, as they were typically organized in the old days, is visible in the entry hall. It’s interesting to note that these came from the Gadag district home of Siddanagowda Patil, a key player in founding Asia’s first cooperative society.
Unclaimed items spanning decades, ranging from tiny brass figurines to beads and even whole sandalwood logs, are stacked on its shelves. The several stamp kinds and their histories, such as joint issue and omnibus issue stamps, are also listed on charts that have stamps attached.
Since the postal service has traditionally placed a high value on timekeeping, India Post has kept a rare Ansonia wall clock that was made in New York.
Another, simpler clock is more somber; it stopped at 11:18 p.m. when floodwaters flooded the post office where it was hanging at Lolsur, near Gokak.
Older, no longer in use equipment is also on display. Very recent equipment, such as a Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) dish that was once used to transmit money order data, as well as vintage uniforms and leather satchels once worn by postmen, are displayed alongside old mallets and wooden machines used to arrange records and punch holes in bundles of paper.
Additionally, the museum features an audiovisual room where schoolchildren can visit and learn about the pre-colonial mail service’s history.With the exception of Sundays and public holidays, the museum is open daily. Tickets cost Rs 25.
