pink enamel Brooch and cufflinks ready for US President
The Prime Minister gifted the President of the United States of America, Joe Biden, a pink enamel brooch and cufflinks set.
Pink Meenakari is a GI tagged art in Varanasi Uttar Pradesh, A piece of pure silver is cast as the base, and the chosen design is engraved into the metal. The raised figures are then filled with crushed meena glass to which an attractive natural anardana (pomegranate seed) gum is added. It is then baked to get a translucent colored patch. What sets it apart from other meenakari is the layer of white meena, which acts as an opaque canvas for the hand-painted motifs. The paint is baked layer by layer for durability. The mainly pink color (pink) has been used in the motifs, which gives the craft its name.
These cufflinks were specially designed for the President with a matching brooch for the First Lady.
Platinum colored hand painted tea presented to UK PM
Prime Minister Modi presented a hand-painted tea set from Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district to his UK counterpart Boris Johnson.
The base form is painted by hand and then baked at 1200 °C. The embossed outline is placed manually with a henna cone. Each shape is then filled with color separately and baked again. The crockery gifted in honor of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, being celebrated this year, has been lined with platinum metal paint.
Canadian PM. ko hand knitted silk carpet
The Prime Minister presented a hand-woven silk carpet to his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau.
Silk carpets are world famous for their softness and craftsmanship. A cashmere silk carpet is known for its beauty, perfection, lushness, luxury and dedicated craftsmanship. Each cashmere silk carpet is considered a never before seen piece of hand made art.
Kashmiri silk carpets are mainly made in the Srinagar region of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. These masterpieces are hand-woven on the warp threads, one at a time, according to a strict code of colors in the order of their appearance in the pattern. The knotted product is cut with scissors for smoothness, and then treated with a number of polishing procedures.
Notably, all silk carpets have a wonderful innate quality of displaying different colors when viewed from different angles or sides. Often there is a day and night variation in the colors which creates the illusion of seeing two carpets instead of the actual one carpet.
Bottles of Attar in a Zardosi Box to the President of France
The Prime Minister presented Indian perfume (Attar) to French President Emmanuel Macron in a Zardosi box prepared in Uttar Pradesh’s capital Lucknow. The Zari Zardosi Box is hand embroidered on Khadi silk and satin tissue in the colors of the French national flag. The motifs are traditional Indo-Persian, lotus flowers embroidered with metallic strings in blue and a pendant used in Kashmiri carpets, apart from Awadhi architecture.
This box includes the following:
Attar Mitti: A unique attar produced in Kannauj where petrichor, the fresh smell of the first rain falling on the earth, is captured in sandalwood oil. It has the wet natural aroma of clay, produced by the 5,000-year-old traditional dig and steam method by distilling specially selected ripe clay in sandalwood oil.
Jasmine Oil: A special natural oil from Bella (Jasmine Sambac), which is freshly broken, produced by careful hydro distillation.
Attar Shamma: A unique attar capturing the essence of many herbs and spices of a centuries-old Vedic formulation in sandalwood oil, to produce an attar with hot spicy, herbaceous, oriental notes, which is very difficult to replicate.
Attar Rose: An attar that has a scent closest to that of natural rose, produced by hydro distillation in a copper vessel to prevent the petals from heating up.
Exotic Musk: A modern masculine fragrance crafted with the splendor of jasmine, the exceptional sensuality of rose and the stimulating allure of the warm, woody note of musk as its base note.
Garam Masala: A newly designed liqueur, to celebrate the French appreciation for strongly grounded cuisine Garam Masala has been added. It is an edible natural oil combination of extracts and essential oils from the iconic Indian spice blend of Garam Masala, which is very difficult to replicate.
Italy’s PM. Marble inlay on top of table top
Prime Minister Modi presented a marble inlaid table top to the Prime Minister of Italy, Mario Draghi.
Marble inlays have their origins in the opus sectile, a form of pietra dura popular in the ancient and medieval Roman world where material was cut and inlaid into walls and floors to create drawings or patterns. This marble table top with inlay work is originated in Agra and is made of semi-precious stones which have gradient in colour, which makes it similar to Italian marble inlay work. Color gradient stones are harder to place, but make the inlay more realistic. The delicate process involves manually cutting and engraving semi-precious stones onto marble. To begin with, a pre-defined pattern such as a floral design or a geometric design, is engraved on the marble object. Then small pieces of individual semi-precious stones are delicately cut. These small pieces are then slid into the groove, making the simple marble object a beautiful and colorful piece of art.
sparring metal utensils to the German Chancellor
PM gifted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz the murky-carved metal utensils.
This nickel-coated, hand-engraved brassware is a masterpiece from Moradabad, also known as the Brass Nagari or “Brass City” of Uttar Pradesh. After the casting of the pot, the design to be engraved is first sketched on the paper. The entire design is outlined with a fine engraving tool hammered with a wooden block. This particular type of engraving is called a meridian, because of the curved lines used to fill in the negative space in this design. The importance of the engraving craft of Moradabad lies in its ability to elevate objects of everyday use into objects of intrigue.
Japan PM. black pottery artifacts for
Prime Minister Modi presented black pottery artifacts to his Japanese counterpart. A special technique is used to bring color to the black pottery of Nizamabad, Uttar Pradesh. The technique involves cooking the pot inside the oven, ensuring that there is no room for oxygen to enter the space and that the heat level remains high. The presence of oxygen can make pottery red. The glaze on pottery comes from the clay’s high zinc content and the layering of mustard oil before the pottery is cooked. The pottery comes both with and without inlay. Silver metal powder has been used in inlaid pottery. The circles are sculpted by hand and then filled with metal powder. Then the whole pot is baked one last time.
Dokra art work on the theme of Ramayana to the President of South Africa
The Prime Minister presented a Dokra artwork to the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa.
Dokra art is the casting of non-ferrous metals. It uses a lost-wax casting technique. It is more than 4,000 years old. There are two main processes for lost wax casting: solid and hollow. Made primarily by artisans from Central and Eastern India, these products are in great demand in the domestic and foreign markets due to their primitive simplicity, attractive folk motifs and forceful forms.
An art work from Chhattisgarh based on Ramayana themed gifted to a South African leader: Lord Rama rides an elephant with brother Lakshmana, wife Goddess Sita and Lord Hanuman.
Nandi-themed dokra art to the President of Argentina
Prime Minister Modi gifted another Dokra art piece to the President of Argentina, Alberto Fernandez. Even according to Hindu mythology, a figure of ‘Nandi’ – the vehicle (mount) of Lord Shiva – is from Chhattisgarh.
Lakh pots to the President of Indonesia Ram Darbar
The Prime Minister presented Lakarware Ram Darbar to Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
The GI-tagged lacquer art form has its roots in the temple city of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Wooden idols of gods and goddesses and sacred animals serve as iconic mementos taken back by the pilgrims. The process is a tedious process, requiring the assembly of the base wood form with the individual parts covered layer by layer with distemper or lacquer-based paint. True to its city of origin, lacquered goods always come in bright, jewel tones.
This specially gifted piece is made on sycamore (botanical name: Ficus racemosa) wood. The main characters in the artwork are Shri Ram, Goddess Sita, Lord Hanuman and Jatayu. The Indonesian version of the Ramayana is believed to have been written in Central Java during the Medang Empire (732–1006 AD). It is known as Kakavin Ramayana. The story of Ramayana was narrated to the people through shadow puppets (Wayang Kulit and Wayang Purva).
munjo Baskets and cotton rugs to the President of Senegal
The Prime Minister gifted moong baskets and cotton rugs to Senegalese President Mackie Sal.
In Senegal, the tradition of hand weaving is passed down from mother to daughter, adding to its importance as a vehicle for cultural expression and family livelihood – driven by strong women. The same is done in Prayagraj, Sultanpur and Amethi districts of Uttar Pradesh state, where Moonj grass is now serving as a permanent source of income for rural women. Additionally, Munj products are a wonderful example of utilitarian handicrafts made from sustainably sourced materials. Like Senegalese baskets, Munj crafts also use bright, jewel-tone colors.
This specially gifted piece is by a master craftsman from Prayagraj. The blades of grass used here are very thin, making them difficult to weave.
Cotton rugs are hand woven in the Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh. The shuttle handloom work of making Sitapur durries is similar to the Senegalese art of the Manjak loincloth. The beauty of this particular piece is the slender width of its loom, which triples the work.