On a three-day visit to the United States of America, Prime Minister Narendra Modi carried special gifts showcasing India’s ancient culture for the US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.
While PM Modi gifted an eco-friendly lab-grown 7.5-carat diamond, placed in Kashmir’s exquisite Papier mâché box to the First Lady Jill Biden, he gave President Biden, who turns 81 in November, a unique sandalwood box sourced from Mysore with intricately carved flora and fauna patterns and handcrafted by a master craftsman from Jaipur.
The box contains the idol of Lord Ganesha, its silver form has been handcrafted by a family of fifth-generation silversmiths of Kolkata, officials said, adding that the box also has white sesame seeds sourced from the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The sesame seeds are offered for Tildaan (donation of sesame seeds).
Handcrafted in Rajasthan, a 24K pure and hallmarked gold coin, which is offered as Hiranyadaan (donation of gold), is also part of the gifted box.
It also contains ghee or clarified butter sourced from Punjab, offered for Ajyadaan (donation of clarified butter), a handwoven textured tussar silk cloth, offered for Vastradaan (donation of cloth), sourced from Jharkhand as well as long grained rice sourced from Uttarakhand which is offered for Dhaanyadaan (donation of food grains).
On the other hand, the Bidens gifted Modi a vintage American camera, a hardcover book of American wildlife photography and a signed, first edition copy of ‘Collected Poems of Robert Frost’.