6th Definitive Series - Water Mark

A Watermark is an image or pattern "in paper" that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when held against the light or viewed by transmitted light. The variations in the shades are due to density variations in the paper, intentionally caused during the manufacturing process.
Watermark detection is an important skill for the philatelists; this is the only teature to distinguish a common stamp a rare one, at the times. Through the watermark detection is carried on at the back of the stamp, its correct position is determined with relation of the front of the specimen.
As has been explained in the text above, the watermark orientation on the stamp is determined in ralation with the front / printed side if the paper sheet. What we see from the back / unprinted side of the stamp is a mirror / reverse image of the actual watermark. The variations in the position of the watermarks are caused by erroneous feeding of the paper sheets in to the printing machines.

This new watermark is "Large Star & INDIA GOVT" watermark. This is a hybrid format watermark of the Over-all watermark & Multiple watermark formats. In this format a few (more than one) watermark design units appear on the sheet, every such unit covering a number of stamps. The arrangement of the design units in this new watermark in the sheet is made in a way that some of the watermark units appear upright / correct when looked at from any direction. The stars in the watermark appear upright, inverted and sideways, in either direction within the same sheet in this arrangement.

Starting 1980, a second arrangement in the sheets with "Large Star & INDIA GOVT" watermark is also available. In this second arrangement, all the stars in all the design units on a sheet point to the same direction. This helps in determination of the default setting of the watermark and it's variations. Stamps issued after 1980 on "Large Star & INDIA GOVT" watermarked paper, have the second setting.