BHOPAL, INDIA (ANS) -- According to a report carried by www.ucanews.com, Arvind Khodke has collected postal stamps since childhood, but at the age of 57, he collects them to learn about Christianity and spread religious tolerance.

Arvind Khodke (Photo: The Hindu)

“I want to learn the entire history of Christianity, from its origin and growth, through stamps,” says Khodke, a Hindu who lives in Bhopal, capital of Madhya Pradesh state, 745 kilometers south of New Delhi.

The idea might seem far-fetched, but he has already collected about 500 stamps depicting pictures of the Holy Family, Jesus, the Blessed Mother, Saint Joseph, Nativity scenes and popes. He also collects cartoons and other pictures on Christianity.

Khodke recalls his first direct interaction with Christianity was through a mission hospital in the central state. He had heard about Christian missionaries being “very charitable, and I myself experienced it in the hospital,” he told UCA News on Dec. 26.

“They really take care of the sick, and there is no better example of Christian charity,” he affirmed. He became “more interested in Christianity” when media began to report increased attacks on Christians in the state.

Christians in Madhya Pradesh say violence against them has risen since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, Indian Peoples Party) came to power in the state in December 2003. The BJP is considered the political wing of groups trying to make India a Hindu theocracy.

Khodke said his experience of Christianity is that it helps the needy “without looking into one's caste, creed and gender.” This led him to embark on a “mission” to know more about the Christian religion, he explained.

He chose stamp collecting, something he began at the age of 12, to carry out this mission. The former bank employee said he began “seriously” collecting stamps on Christianity in 2004, a task he christened “Christ Mission 2009.”

It is “not an easy task” he acknowledged, noting that he has “never come across any Christian in the state” with a stamp collection on Christianity. He gets his stamps from friends and exhibitions, and also buys and exchanges stamps with other collectors.

Khodke said he did not want to read the Bible to know more about Christianity. Rather, “when I finish my collection, the Holy Bible will be with me in the form of stamps.” He plans to exhibit “a display of the Holy Bible in the form of stamps rather than in letters” when he finishes collecting the stamps by the end of 2009.

He staged a preliminary exhibition of his incomplete collection at a Christmas gathering on Dec. 26 in Bhopal. Although state Governor Balram Jakhar, the president's representative in the state, and other top officials attended, the collector felt he “did not get a very good response.”

Undaunted, Khodke expressed his resolve to stage more exhibitions after completing the collection, by which time he hopes to get “a better response.” Such exhibitions in various cities may help people learn more about Christianity and its values, he added, since “seeing is believing.”

In India, he said, where people of various religions and cultures have seen fanaticism firsthand, secular-minded people should work to spread peace and harmony.

“No other religion in the world is as charitable as Christianity,” he maintained, explaining that Christianity does not discriminate against people on the basis of caste as does Hinduism, which is “divided along caste lines.” He explained his aim is to help people know about the values of peace, love and brotherhood in Christianity.

Khodke has also collected stamps on Jainism and on Mahatma Gandhi, father of the India nation. Jainism, which literally means “religion of the conqueror,” is a rigorous ascetic faith founded by Mahavira (great hero) Vardhamana, an elder contemporary of Buddha. Its motto, ahimsa paramo dharmah (nonviolence is the supreme religion), was adopted by Mahatma Gandhi in his successful struggle for India's independence from Britain.

James Varghese is a reporter for the “V” TV news in Gokak, Karnataka state, India, and is freelance journalist working for ANS.