PM Modi gifts handcrafted sandalwood box,
7.5-carat eco-friendly green diamond to US President Joe Biden, US First Lady Jill Biden; check out state dinner menu
Produced by: Bhoomika
Designed by: Mohsin Shaikh
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was welcomed by US President Joe Biden and US First Lady Jill Biden at the White House. The leaders then exchanged some valuable gifts
PM Modi exchanges gifts with US President Biden
PM Modi gifted a sandalwood box handcrafted by a craftsman from Jaipur to Joe Biden. The sandalwood was sourced from Karnataka’s Mysore and has carved flora and fauna patterns on it
Handcrafted sandalwood box
The handcrafted sandalwood box contains a silver idol of Lord Ganesha, a silver diya or oil lamp, a copper plate, and 10 silver boxes symbolising 'Das Danam' or ten donations
PM Modi's special gift
for US President
Both the silver idol of Ganesha and the silver diya were handcrafted by a family of silversmiths from Kolkata. The copper plate, also called tampra-patra with a shloka inscribed on it was sourced from Uttar Pradesh. Further, a delicately handcrafted silver coconut by the artisans of West Bengal was presented in place of a cow for Gaudaan
Expensive handcrafted
gifts for Bidens
A fragrant piece of sandalwood sourced from Mysore was placed in the place of land, symbolising Bhudaan. Further, til or white sesame seeds sourced from Tamil Nadu were offered for Tildaan. A 24K pure and hallmarked gold coin, handcrafted in Rajasthan was presented as Hiranyadaan, Punjab’s ghee or clarified butter was gifted in the form of Ajyadaan or donation of clarified butter
List of PM Modi's gifts
to US President
Jharkhand’s handwoven textured tussar silk was offered for Vastradaan, Uttarakhand’s long-grained rice sourced was offered as Dhaanyadaan, Maharashtra’s jaggery was offered for Guddaan, Rajasthan’s 99.5% pure, hallmarked silver coin was offered as Raupyadaan, Gujarat’s lavan or salt was offered as Lavandaan
PM Modi's gifts for US President Biden
Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented a lab-grown made-in-India 7.5-carat green diamond to Jill Biden. It is also eco-friendly as eco-diversified resources like solar and wind power were used in its making. The green diamond was presented in a papier mache box known as kar-e-kalamdani. It was prepared in Kashmir using paper pulp enhanced with an intricate naqqashi or design
PM Modi gifts lab-grown
7.5 carat green diamond
to Jill Biden
PM Modi also gifted President Biden a book titled ‘The Ten Principal Upanishads’ by Irish poet William Butler Yeats and Shri Purohit Swami who helped with the translation as well. The US President has often quoted poetry from Yeats
PM Modi gifts a book
to President Biden
- Handmade, antique American book galley from the early 20th century
- Vintage American camera, along with an archival facsimile print of George Eastman's Patent of the first Kodak camera
- A hardcover book of American wildlife photography
Bidens’ gifts to PM Modi
The US State dinner is expected to have an Indian touch. It will be a peacock-themed dinner and the decor will signify India’s Tricolour. Chef Nina Curtis, an expert in plant-based dishes will be cooking vegetarian dishes for PM Modi. The dinner menu will also include millet-based dishes. Earlier on Wednesday, PM Modi had a private dinner with the Bidens which had pasta and ice cream among other dishes
Bidens to host dinner
for PM Modi
Lemon-dill yoghurt sauce, Crisped millet cakes, Summer squashes, Marinated millet and grilled corn kernel salad, compressed watermelon, tangy avocado sauce, stuffed portobello mushrooms, creamy saffron-infused risotto, rose and cardamom-infused strawberry shortcake