For foreign dignitaries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi They have often chosen gifts that reflect India’s rich cultural and artistic traditions, and it was no different this time as they chose a wide variety of products for heads of government. G7 Summit,
It was the distinctive artistic products identified with the various regions of Uttar Pradesh and other states that featured heavily in their choices, the President of the United States wearing pink enamel, the GI-tagged art of Varanasi, cufflink sets and brooches. And the German chancellor received metal sarcasm. Official sources said on Tuesday that the Matka carving, considered Moradabad’s masterpiece.
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He said PM Modi presented the Japanese Prime Minister with pieces of black pottery, which hails from Nizamabad in Uttar Pradesh, and his British counterpart a platinum-painted tea with hand-made work.
He gifted bottles of Itar (perfume obtained from natural sources) in zardozi boxes to the President of France, and the marble-inlaid, rooted in Agra, table top to the Italian Prime Minister.
Noting that the hand-weaving tradition in Senegal is passed down from mother to daughter, sources said PM Modi chose Moonj baskets and cotton dari (heavy run) for the country’s President. Sources said the practice is considered a vehicle for cultural expression and family livelihood driven by strong women, adding the products have their origins in Prayagraj, Sultanpur and Amethi districts of UP.
With the Ramayana tradition a permanent part of Indonesian culture, PM Modi gifted the lacquerware “Ram Darbar” to its President. The GI tagged lacquer art-form has its roots in the temple city of Varanasi, which incidentally is the constituency representing PM Modi in the Lok Sabha.
Sources said the Prime Minister gifted his Canadian counterpart a hand-woven silk carpet, which is an exclusive product of Kashmir.
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Dokra art with Ramayana and Nandi themes were his gifts of choice to the South African and Argentine presidents respectively.
Dokra art is a non-ferrous metal casting art that uses lost wax casting techniques, and it has been in India for more than 4,000 years, he said, adding that both products are from Chhattisgarh.
Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday left for the United Arab Emirates after attending a productive G7 summit in Germany and holding talks with several world leaders.
While sharing the details of these various artefacts, official sources mentioned that in Pink Meenakari, a piece of pure silver is cast as the base and the chosen design is engraved on the metal. The embossed shape is then filled with great skill with meena glass mixed with an interesting natural anardana (pomegranate seed) gum. It is then removed to turn it into a translucent colored patch.
What sets it apart from other meenakari is the layering of white meena that serves as an opaque canvas for the hand-painted motifs, said they mainly use the color pink, which Gives the craft its name.
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Sources said the cufflinks were designed for US President Joe Biden with a matching brooch for his wife.
The zari zardozi box carrying itar has been hand-embroidered in the colors of the French flag on khadi silk and satin tissue, he said.