PM Narendra Modi's gifts to Bidens: Upanishad to lab-grown diamond

India's diverse regions represented in the gifts

From the first edition of The Ten Principal Upanishads for US President Joe Biden, to an eco-friendly lab-grown diamond for First Lady Jill, Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to the White House on Thursday bearing gifts showcasing the diverse culture of India.

The PM gifted Biden a copy of the first edition print of the book The Ten Principal Upanishads published by Faber and Faber of London, according to a list of gifts put out by the government. In 1937, Irish poet and dramatist WB Yeats had published an English translation of the Upanishads, co-authored with Purohit Swami, a teacher from Maharashtra.

 

The US President also received a special sandalwood box with intricately carved flora and fauna patterns — handcrafted from Jaipur — while the sandalwood was sourced from Mysore, Karnataka. The box contained a silver idol of Lord Ganesh made by a fifth-generation member of a silversmith family from Kolkata. It also contained an oil lamp, and a copper plate.

The PM gifted an eco-friendly lab-grown 7.5 carat diamond to US First Lady Jill Biden. The diamond reflects earth-mined chemical and optical properties and was placed in a box made of Kashmir’s famous papier-mâché called Kar-e-Kalamdani.

As a special nod to the age of octogenarian Biden, the box also contained the 10 danams (donations) traditionally made for this occasion. This is mentioned in the Vaikhanas Grihya Sutram in the Yajurveda, the ancient Vedic Sanskrit text compiling the list of offerings.

Media reports quoting the The White House said the PM was gifted a handmade, antique American book galley from the early 20th century. 

Biden also gifted Modi a vintage American camera, accompanied by an archival facsimile print of George Eastman’s patent of the first Kodak camera. A hardcover book of American wildlife photography and a signed, first edition copy of Collected Poems of Robert Frost was also given to Modi.

The gifts were handed over at an intimate dinner at the White House. hosted by the Bidens on Wednesday.