The “Floating Post Office, Dal Lake” – claimed to be the only such in the world – is built on an intricately carved maroon houseboat, now moored on the western edge of the Dal Lake.
This post office that lets you avail all the regular postal services available in the country while being afloat. The seal used on everything posted from the Floating Post Office is very unique – along with the date and address, it bears the design of a boatman rowing a shikara on the Dal Lake.
“This is actually a heritage post office that has existed since British times. It was called Nehru Park post office before 2011. But that year, the then chief post master John Samuel took an initiative to repurpose it and rename it as ‘Floating Post Office’,” said Surinder Kaul, a sub postmaster who runs the post office.
The uniqueness
Being one-of-its-kind architectures, this post office has now become an important part of a tourist’s Kashmir itinerary. You won’t believe number of travellers who visit the post office just to send postcard to their loved ones. Also stamps here feature the image of Dal Lake, which is kind of tribute to this nature’s work of art. There couldn’t be a better souvenir, right?
The lake has several islets that are home to more than 50,000 people. For the locals, the Floating Post Office is more than an object of fascination. “This is our post office as well as a bank. Labourers and farmers working nearby and those who run the shikara business all come to this post office to deposit their savings,” says Mohammad Ismail, a Dal dweller who runs a snacks shop on the nearby Boulevard Road.
The posts are delivered by a postman who travels in a shikara and delivers the letters to houseboats
