Postage stamp and post mark

This post is about an interesting postage Stamp and the post mark on it. Thanks to Anjali Tambe for the postage stamp with post mark on it.

This stamp was issued on 30^th March 1964, as a part of UNESCO campaign “Save the monuments of Nubia”.

The Abu Simbel temples are two massive rock temples at Abu Simbel, a village in Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt, near the border with Sudan. They are situated on the western bank of Lake Nasser, about 230 km southwest of Aswan. The complex is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Nubian Monuments". The twin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside in the 13th century BC, during the 19th dynasty reign of the Pharaoh Ramesses II. Their huge external rock relief figures have become iconic.

The complex was relocated in its entirety by UNESCO in 1968 on an artificial hill made from a domed structure, high above the Aswan High Dam reservoir. The relocation of the temples was necessary or they would have been submerged during the creation of Lake Nasser, the massive artificial water reservoir formed after the building of the Aswan High Dam on the River Nile.

Now some interesting information about the post mark, the post mark dated 4 MAY 64, is coincidently, “4-5-64” the post office located at “HOTEL METROPOLE, KARACHI” (Current Branch code:75520).

The Iconic “HOTEL METROPOLE” at Karachi was established by Parsi gentlemen, Cyrus Faramjee Minwalla in 1949 and was inaugurated by the Shah of Iran in 1951. In the 60s and 70s, Hotel Metropole was the place to be. From the Queen of England to the Shah of Iran, the Aga Khan and the Nawab of Bahawalpur, they all used to have suites there.

 It has been a cornerstone of Karachi’s heritage lined with international airline offices on the ground floor, including Pan Am, KLM and others.  Lufthansa, Swiss Air and Condor’s crew used to stay here. The entire fourth floor was just for airlines crew. No one else could use those rooms. They also had their own restaurant and kitchen.

Unfortunately, over the years occupancy and business declined and due to financial constraints, in 2004 the hotel was closed down permanently. As of now part of the hotel is demolished.

Ironically, Nubian Monuments have survived but the Iconic Hotel is gone forever.

Here it is interesting to note that the Iconic Tajmahal Palace Hotel, Mumbai was also built by Parsi gentlemen J N Tata. Taj was severely damaged during the terrorist attack in 2008; however it not only survived but also bounced back to its Iconic status in just few months.