Permanent Pictorial Cancellation inaugural day covers

Description: The main building of Patna GPO is more than 100 years old and is located in Patna city, Bihar. The GPO faces south-east. In 1911, during the Delhi Durbar, King George V, as a lieutenant governor, announced the creation of new provinces of Bihar and Orissa and decided to make Patna the capital of the new province. Thus, it became necessary to establish a post and telegraph office as well as other govt. Buildings. In 1912, Mr. Munnings was appointed as the architectural consultant for the Government of Bihar and Orissa and on 1 December 1912 Lord Harding inaugurated the construction of the building which was completed in 1917. This GPO building was opened for public use on 1 July 1917. 

Earlier there used to be a Dak bungalow here as well as Bankipur Post Office which was now shifted to the Embankment area on Ashoka Rajpath. The first post office of Bihar and Orissa was opened near Patna GPO. The building was designed during World War I and as a result has plaster ceilings and Mughal architectural elements. The original structure had three porticoes - north, south and east, with the eastern portico serving as the main entrance. Later, the western portico was added. The ground floor has seven rooms and four halls with counter areas, while the first floor has 14 halls. An imposing structure with a built-up area of 1.93 lakh sq ft, the work on the GPO building spread over 22 acres began after Bihar was separated from Bengal. The cost of construction was around Rs 2.69 lakh. In the year 2000, the building was renovated for Rs 1.25 crore, under which five gardens were added to it, one of which also had medicinal herbs.