By Arpita Ghosh
Copyright timesnownews
More than 1,300 gifts received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, including a statue of Goddess Bhavani and a model of Ayodhya’s Ram temple, will go under the hammer in an online auction starting Tuesday. The seventh edition of the auction will open on September 17, coinciding with Modi’s 75th birthday, and continue until October 2. According to the PM Mementos website, the Goddess Bhavani statue has a base price of Rs 1.03 crore, while the Ram temple model is listed at Rs 5.5 lakh. Also among the top five items are three pairs of shoes worn by medal winners at the 2024 Paralympic Games, each priced at Rs 7.7 lakh. Other gifts include a Pashmina shawl from Jammu and Kashmir, a Tanjore painting of Ram Durbar, a metallic Nataraja statue, a Rogan artwork from Gujarat, and a handwoven Naga shawl. A special feature this year is sports memorabilia donated by India’s para-athletes from the Paris Paralympics, symbolising “resilience and excellence”, the culture ministry said. Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat announced the auction at the National Gallery of Modern Art, where the items are currently on display. Since the first edition in 2019, auctions of Modi’s gifts have raised more than Rs 50 crore for the Namami Gange project, aimed at cleaning and conserving the Ganga River. “The e-auction is not just an opportunity to own a piece of history but also to support a noble cause,” the ministry said in a statement.
