In the run-up to Durga Puja, India Post is gifting the city a state-level philatelic exhibition. The Academy of Fine Arts will host the six-day show, which will be inaugurated by governor K.N. Tripathi on Thursday at noon. Such a high-level stamp show is being held in Calcutta after a gap of 10 years.

"We host district-level stamp shows now and then but state-level exhibitions are infrequent given the logistical challenges that such a big show poses. We have been preparing for this for three months," said chief postmaster-general, West Bengal circle, Arundhaty Ghosh.

There will be three categories of exhibits - invitee, competitive and non-competitive. "The response from philatelists across Bengal and Sikkim have been so enthusiastic that we are facing space constraint in trying to accommodate them all. There are 360 frames. We are trying to push in another 20 frames," said postmaster general, Calcutta, Subrat Das.

The cynosure of all eyes will be the invited class. Here on view will be S.C. Sukhani's four anna Queen Victoria 1854 stamp erroneously printed in the survey office in Calcutta with an inverted head, the market value of which is over Rs 1 crore. The postage stamp is said to be one of the most sought-after items in the world of philately as only about 30 remain in existence. A Central African Republic stamp of 1897, with the word "Central" missing, will be displayed by Dipok Dey while P.C. Jaiswal will exhibit his collection on the Indian postal system.

Across eight frames, Bishwanath Jhunjhunwala is displaying classics of pre-independence India featuring all the stamps issued in 1854, when India started printing stamps. This would include the first ever postage stamp of India, a blue half anna lithograph with head of Queen Victoria. The Jhunjhunwala family is putting up a three generation show with son Rajesh and grandson Raghav also participating.

Also on display in various categories will be stamps on cinema, Durga Puja, printing technology of stamps, Gandhi, cricket etc. The competitive class will be judged by P.K. Bishoi, director, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai National Postal Academy, Ghaziabad, and Ashok Bayenwala from Ahmedabad.

Five special covers will be released in course of the exhibition, including one on Sambhu Mitra and another on the centenary of the first meeting of Tagore and Gandhi.

On the sidelines of the show, there will be a letter-writing contest, a quiz, a sit-and-draw contest and a workshop on philately for school students. The workshop will take place on October 11 and will be conducted by Madhu Deogamkar. "We want youngsters to take up philately. With letter-writing on the wane, many don't even know what stamps are," said Ghosh.