The World’s Only Floating Post Office in Srinagar, India

It is a known fact that India has the largest number of post offices in the world. But most of us don’t know that there is also a floating post office in India. Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir is one of the most popular and beautiful destinations in India. It is famous among tourists and has several attractions. One of its major attractions is the Dal Lake which is known for its natural beauty, its location between mountains, and its lovely weather and ambience. But another jewel to its crown is India’s first floating post office. The Floating Post Office on the Dal Lake is claimed to be the only such in the world. It is built on an intricately carved maroon houseboat, now moored on the western edge of the Dal Lake.

This post office lets you avail all the postal services while being afloat. It was inaugurated by former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah in August 2011. Since then it has been attracting tourists from all over the country. The post office also has a museum and a shop that sells postage stamps and other things. These include picture post cards, greeting cards, local souvenir items, stationary and several books about Kashmir. The post office also has other services that allows tourists to call and email their family or friends all over the world. The letters which are posted in this post office has special design and beautiful pictures of the Dal Lake and other tourist attractions of Srinagar.

The Dal Lake which is known as one of the most beautiful lakes in India, conjures images of beautiful peaks and houseboats floating against the backdrop of snow-clad mountains. This lovely floating post office just adds more to its gorgeousness. But for the locals here, the Floating Post Office is more than an object of fascination. The post office also receives one to two crore rupees every month as deposits by the people living in and around the Dal Lake. For the residents around the lake, this is the place where they do their normal post office work including banking. The labourers, farmers and all other businessmen come to this post office to deposit all their savings.

The only thing that fears the people who is dependent on this post office is the recurrence of the 2014 like floods. The 2014 floods had toppled the post office and had pushed it away from its place. But the rescue teams successfully bought it back to the Dal Lake after the waters receded.