Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia released a ₹5 commemorative postage stamp at Bikaner House in New Delhi to mark the birth centenary of Satish Gujral, one of India’s most versatile modern artists. Issued by the Department of Posts, the stamp honours the late painter, sculptor, muralist, architect and writer for his lasting contribution to Indian art and culture. The design reproduces a rare 2010 self-portrait, one of only four the artist painted in a career spanning over seven decades.
Who Was Satish Gujral?
Born on 25 December 1925 in Jhelum in pre-Partition Punjab, now in Pakistan, Satish Gujral grew up to become one of the defining figures of post-Independence Indian art. At the age of eight, a near-drowning accident followed by a botched treatment took away his hearing. The resulting silence pushed him towards drawing, and with his family’s encouragement he joined the Mayo School of Art in Lahore in 1939, later moving to Bombay in 1944 to study at the Sir J.J. School of Art.
Gujral witnessed the violence and displacement of Partition at close quarters, even volunteering to help refugees cross the border. This experience gave birth to his celebrated Partition series, dark, densely composed paintings of mourning and loss that remain among his finest works. In 1952 he won a scholarship to the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, where he apprenticed under the legendary muralists Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros, a stint that shaped his lifelong conviction that art must carry social meaning.
His practice then expanded beyond the canvas. He created large public murals in ceramic, stone and metal across Delhi, including works at the Delhi High Court, Baroda House and Shastri Bhawan. In the late 1970s he turned to architecture, designing the celebrated Belgian Embassy in New Delhi, which an international forum of architects later ranked among the finest buildings of the 20th century. Other projects included the Goa University campus, the India Islamic Cultural Centre in Delhi and the Ambedkar Memorial in Lucknow.
Gujral also wrote, publishing his acclaimed autobiography A Brush with Life in 1997. His elder brother, Inder Kumar Gujral, served as Prime Minister of India from 1997 to 1998. Satish Gujral passed away in New Delhi on 26 March 2020 at the age of 94.
The Commemorative Stamp
The ₹5 stamp reproduces a 2010 acrylic-on-canvas self-portrait, painted towards the end of Gujral’s life and considered one of only four self-portraits he ever created. It shows the artist seated with a paintbrush in hand, his face and arms rendered in black and white against a richly coloured background, giving the composition a near-photorealistic finish. The stamp design places him in a thoughtful pose against a backdrop of rich purple and blue inspired by his distinctive style.
The artwork was gifted by Gujral to his daughter, the interior designer Raseel Gujral Ansal, in 2013, and had hung in her Delhi home before entering public circulation. The stamp was designed by Anuj Kumar on a proposal by Raseel Gujral Ansal. A special cancellation mark was also issued, and the first-day cover accompanying the stamp is based on another of Gujral’s works.
The commemorative stamp, along with a week-long exhibition of the original artworks and limited-edition centenary collectibles, is on display at Bikaner House in New Delhi from 4 to 9 August 2026. It will be available for philately enthusiasts through 72 Philately Bureaux across India.
Release at Bikaner House
The stamp was released on 3 August 2026 by Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, the Union Minister of Communications and Development of North Eastern Region. The ceremony brought together Director General of Postal Services Jitendra Gupta, Chief Postmaster General of the Delhi Circle Col. Akhilesh Kumar Pandey, veteran artist and Padma Bhushan recipient Jatin Das, former Director General of the National Gallery of Modern Art Dr. Rajeev Lochan, members of the Gujral family and other dignitaries.
Speaking on the occasion, Scindia described Gujral as a creative genius whose life reflected resilience, innovation and excellence, and praised his ability to work across painting, sculpture, architecture and writing. He noted how Gujral turned a severe childhood hearing impairment into the foundation of an extraordinary artistic language built on colour, texture, form and space.
The minister also recalled Gujral’s long association with the Department of Posts, observing that the artist translated complex ideas into powerful visual narratives through his stamp designs. He described postage stamps as small objects that carry the soul of the country, travelling across cities, villages and taluks while preserving India’s history, culture and collective memories for future generations.
Gujral, the Stamp Designer
The centenary stamp is not the first time Gujral’s work has appeared on Indian postage. He had a long and cherished relationship with the Department of Posts, designing two notable commemorative stamps of his own.
In 1996, he designed a stamp for the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) to mark its 125th anniversary. Rather than a literal picture of telecommunication, he chose an abstract spiral form to represent the universal flow of communication, a striking example of his ability to translate an idea into a visual metaphor. In 2019, a year before his death, he designed the Financial Inclusion commemorative postage stamp, which brought together the Indian rupee symbol and a horse to evoke progress, empowerment and national development through evocative symbolism.
Commemorative Stamps and India Post
The Department of Posts, which works under the Ministry of Communications and is headquartered at Dak Bhawan in New Delhi, traces its modern origin to the Indian Post Office Act of 1854, passed during the tenure of Governor-General Lord Dalhousie. Today, with more than 1.6 lakh post offices, India Post runs the most widely distributed postal network in the world, the majority of its offices located in rural areas.
A commemorative postage stamp is issued to mark a nationally important event or to honour a prominent personality, and differs from a definitive stamp, which is the ordinary stamp used for everyday postage. Commemorative stamps are printed in limited quantities and sold mainly through dedicated philately counters and bureaux. Proposals for such stamps are examined by the Philatelic Advisory Committee, and in the case of personalities they are typically issued on significant occasions such as a birth centenary, with a commemorative stamp generally not released until at least ten years after a person’s death.
A Year of Centenary Tributes
The stamp release is part of a wider series of celebrations honouring Gujral’s centenary year. Earlier in 2026, the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) in New Delhi hosted the exhibition Satish Gujral 100, a major retrospective spanning over 160 works from seven decades, including his Partition paintings, sculptures, burnt-wood works and murals. A parallel show on his architecture opened at Gujral House, the artist’s former residence in Lajpat Nagar that was designed by the noted architect Raj Rewal.
The stamp also carries an implicit recognition of the highest order, since Gujral received the Padma Vibhushan in 1999, India’s second-highest civilian honour after the Bharat Ratna. The Padma Awards, instituted in 1954, are announced every year on the eve of Republic Day and are conferred by the President of India for distinguished service across fields, including art and culture.
Key Takeaways
- The ₹5 commemorative postage stamp marking Satish Gujral’s birth centenary was released on 3 August 2026 at Bikaner House, New Delhi, by Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia.
- The stamp reproduces a 2010 self-portrait, one of only four the artist painted, and was designed by Anuj Kumar on a proposal by Raseel Gujral Ansal, Gujral’s daughter.
- Satish Gujral was born on 25 December 1925 in Jhelum, pre-Partition Punjab, and died on 26 March 2020 in New Delhi at the age of 94.
- Gujral received the Padma Vibhushan in 1999, India’s second-highest civilian honour, for his contribution to art, architecture and culture.
- Gujral designed the VSNL stamp in 1996 and the Financial Inclusion commemorative stamp in 2019, besides his work on the Belgian Embassy in New Delhi.
- The Department of Posts, under the Ministry of Communications, traces its modern origin to the Indian Post Office Act of 1854 and runs the world’s most widely distributed postal network.
