BENGALURU: In an extraordinary rush driven by travel bloggers, bikers, and heritage enthusiasts, the Bengaluru General Post Office (GPO) witnessed unprecedented crowds on Friday, July 10, resulting in the complete sell-out of 1,000 copies of the newly-launched ‘Karnataka Philately Passport’ on the very first day.

Massive Queues from Early Hours: Long queues of enthusiasts snaked well past the GPO’s entrance facing the Cubbon Park Metro Station from the early hours of Friday. To manage the soaring demand, postal officials restricted the sale to one booklet per person and initiated a token system. Demonstrating the intense craze, nearly 500 tokens were distributed within the first 15 minutes of the office opening its shutters.

No Sales on Saturday: Deputy Chief Postmaster Doddappa Itagi confirmed the overwhelmingly positive response, stating, “While we had dynamically planned to run the counter for two days across July 10 and 11, our entire stock of 1,000 booklets for this phase vanished on Day 1 itself. Consequently, there will be no sale of Philately Passports at the Bengaluru GPO on Saturday (July 11).” He added that the initiative has received similar roaring success at bureaus in Mysuru, Mangaluru, and Belagavi.

What is the Philately Passport? Priced at Rs 600 (payable via cash or UPI), the pocket-sized blue booklet acts as a travel souvenir diary introduced by the Karnataka Postal Circle. It lists iconic heritage destinations across the state, such as Vidhana Soudha, the Karnataka High Court, and Badami. Facing pages are left blank so travelers can purchase local stamps and get them stamped with the designated Permanent Pictorial Cancellation (PPC) at the post office nearest to that landmark, adding a unique physical touch to their travel logs. Nearly 90% of the buyers are tech-savvy youth, wanderers, and content creators looking to ditch digital selfies for physical stamps.

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