The auction of more than 1,200 mementos and presents given the PM Narendra Modi starts on Saturday and will continue until October 2. It is the 4th year of the auction that is organized through the Ministry of Culture, said the Union Minister for Culture G Kishan Reddy Friday.
Offering more information, Reddy said, “Mementos included in the auction are artwork, sculptures as well as folk artefacts, handicrafts and other items. Many of them are items typically given as gifts including traditional angavastrams the shawl, headgears or ceremonial swords. Other items of interest are reproductions of models and replicas from models of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya and the Kashi-Vishwanath Temple located in Varanasi. There is also an exciting section of memorabilia from sports”.
In the following of India’s performance at the Commonwealth Games 2022, the Deaflympics 2022 and Thomas Cup Championship 2022, as well as the Thomas Cup Championship 2022, also available for auction are memorabilia given by the winners and teams of the sports events. There are 25 sports memorabilia from this year’s auction, according to the minister.
The money raised by the auction will go for the Namami Gange Program which is the main project that will help to protect and revitalize the Ganga river.
In the exhibit there will be guided tours of the sign languages for people with hearing impairments are also planned. Catalogues with braille are also going to be provided to those who are visually impaired.
In 2019, mementos were auctioned off through open bidding. In the first round, 1,805 items were offered for auction. In the second auction, 2,772 items were offered for auction. The 2021 online auction was held in September , where 1 348 items were auctioned. This year, about 1200 mementos and gifts are being offered for auction. A display of the items has been arranged at the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi, while the items can also be viewed on the website https://pmmementos.gov.in.