Bhubaneswar: US President Joe Biden hosted Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House for a private dinner. The National Security Advisors of both the countries, Ajit Doval and his US counterpart Jake Sullivan, were present.
According media reports, PM Modi gifted President Biden a special sandalwood box with intricately carved flora and fauna patterns handcrafted in Jaipur. The wood for the box was sourced from Mysuru. The box had a silver idol of Lord Ganesha crafted by the fifth generation silversmith of Kolkata, ‘diya’, an oil lamp which occupies a sacred space in every Hindu household where daily prayers are offered and handcrafted delicate silver boxes containing symbolic – Das Danam or the ten donations, which signifies the donations made on this occasion.
Das Danam refers to donations made when a person becomes ‘Drishta Sahasrachandro‘ meaning he has seen one thousand full moons. This is celebrated after completing the age of 80 years and eight months. President Joe Biden turns 81 years of age in November 2023.
Das Danam or 10 donations include a delicately handcrafted silver coconut by the skilled artisans of West Bengal which is offered in place of a Cow for Gaudaan, donation of cow, a fragrant piece of sandalwood sourced from Mysore offered in place of land for Bhudaan, donation of land, Til or white sesame seeds sourced from Tamil Nadu, offered for Tildaan, donation of sesame seeds, handcrafted in Rajasthan, this 24K pure and hallmarked gold coin is offered as Hiranyadaan, donation of gold, ghee or clarified butter sourced from Punjab offered for Ajyadaan, donation of clarified butter, a handwoven textured tussar silk cloth sourced from Jharkhand offered for Vastradaan, donation of cloth, long grained rice sourced from Uttarakhand offered for Dhaanyadaan, donation of food grains, gud or Jaggery sourced from Maharashtra offered for Guddaan, donation of jaggery, 99.5% pure and hallmarked silver coin offered as Raupyadaan, donation of silver and Lavan or salt offered for Lavandaan, donation of salt.
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The Indian Prime Minister also gifted Biden a copy of the first edition print of the book ‘The Ten Principal Upanishads’. Also a copper plate, ‘Tampra Patra’ from Uttar Pradesh with Shloka inscribed on it. In ancient times tamra-patra was widely used as a medium for writing and record keeping.
Prior to the private dinner, PM Modi met the First Lady, Jill Biden and gifted her a lab grown eco-friendly 7.5 carat green diamond. The diamond was placed in a box made of paper pulp, known as kar-e-kalamdani.
In reciprocation, PM Modi received a handmade, antique American book galley. The first couple also gifted him a vintage American camera, a hardcover book of American wildlife photography and a signed first edition copy of ‘Collected Poems of Robert Frost’.
PM Modi is only the third Indian to be invited for a state visit to USA. Such an invitation is considered as the highest form of expression of friendly ties and is reserved only for closest allies.
