Indian PM Modi gifts green diamond to US First Lady

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on his first state visit to the US gifted a handcrafted sandalwood box with 'das danam' to US President Joe Biden and a lab-grown green diamond to First Lady Jill Biden. The gifts were exchanged during the private dinner hosted by Joe Biden and Jill Biden for PM Modi at the White House.

The 7.5-carat green diamond reflects earth-mined diamonds' chemical and optical properties. The diamond is also eco-friendly, as eco-diversified resources like Solar and wind power were used in its making.

The special sandalwood box presented to US President Joe Biden has been handcrafted by a master craftsman from Jaipur, Rajasthan. The sandalwood sourced from Mysore, Karnataka has intricately carved flora and fauna patterns, officials said. The box contains a silver idol of Lord Ganesha, the Hindu deity considered as the destroyer of obstacles and the one who is worshipped first among all gods, and a silver diya (oil lamp). These have been handcrafted by a family of fifth-generation silversmiths from Kolkata. The copper plate also called tamper-Patra has been sourced from Uttar Pradesh and a shloka has been inscribed on it.

The handcrafted delicate silver boxes contain symbolic - 'Das Danam' or the ten donations which denote the donations made on the occasion when a person becomes 'Drishta Sahasrachandro' or the one who has seen one thousand full moons when he completes the age of eighty years and eight months.
The handcrafted delicate silver boxes gifted by PM Modi to US President Joe Biden, who turns 81 this November, contain ten donations, which denote the donations made on the occasion.

(ANI)