India’s Floating Post Office

Everybody must have heard of a post office, but a floating post office is beyond everybody’s imagination. But yes we here in India indeed have one floating Post Office. We have about 1,56,600 post offices in our country out of which one has a distinct feature attached to it and has become one of the major tourist attractions for the people. It is geographically located in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, Srinagar.

Even though the post office was inaugurated in the year 2011 by then chief minister of India Omar Abdullah along with the Minister of State of the Communication Sachin Pilot, the Floating Post Office is 200 years old. It was established during British rule in India and was earlier named The Nehru Post. In the year 1990, the post office was shut down due to the ongoing state turmoil but later to grow the tourist sector of the state it started again and was named The Floating Post Office by Post Master, John Samuel.

It is a beautiful and unique post office with a postal code 190001 that has been housed on a Shikara boat, since its existence. It floats over the picturesque Dal Lake, anchoring between Ghat 14 and Ghat 15, and caters to the postal service of around 10,000 people of Srinagar. There are around 40,000 people who inhabit the small island of Dal Lake who benefit from the Floating post office. It is the nearest post office to their location and it also acts as a bank for them.

Moreover, its unique feature makes it a tourist attraction for people who are visiting Kashmir. It is surrounded by a beautiful Zabarwan mountain range which adds to the scenic beauty of Dal Lake and makes it more flattering for the visitors. It is very well connected to all the modes of transportation. Furthermore, it takes less time to reach Dal Lake via Kashmir than from Jammu.

Apart from the post office it also has other quirky details added to it. Inside the magnificent Shikara, it has two cabins; where one serves as a post office the other serves as a philately museum. However, the museum has been closed for the past three years it used to showcase the history of Kashmir and had a huge variety of antique stamps from the year 1980. It also consists of a shop that sells local handicrafts, saffron materials, postcards, stamps for your collection, greeting cards, and books on Kashmir. One of the most intriguing facts about it is it’s My Stamp. It is a personalized stamp with the individual's photograph on it and it stays with them forever as a souvenir.

With all these amazing aspects, a breathtaking view, a unique floating feature etched to it, and is situated on the most beautiful and famous lake make it a location worth exploring if anyone misses this out even after visiting Jammu and Kashmir they miss out on a beautiful adventure.

BY: Arushi Bansal