Nearly 1,500 mementos presented to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on various occasions are set to be offered through the online auction from tomorrow as the eighth edition of the Prime Minister's Mementos e-Auction starts on the day.
The latest edition features 1,498 mementos representing India's artistic traditions, traditional craftsmanship, cultural practices, spiritual traditions and sporting achievements, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said.
The collection has been sourced from different parts of the country, with larger representations from states including West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Assam, Bihar and Odisha.
The eighth edition also features 50 identified "Hero Objects", described by the Culture Ministry as some of the distinctive pieces in the collection. These include a silver memento of Lord Ram from Karnataka with a base price of Rs 13.50 lakh, a silver replica of the Kakatiya Kala Thoranam with a base price of Rs 9 lakh, a framed Tree of Life Gond art painting priced at Rs 7.50 lakh, a Jagannath Parivar on Chariot with a base price of Rs 6 lakh, and a 99.99 fine gold-plated framed Radha Krishna artwork with a base price of Rs 5.40 lakh.
The auction will be conducted through the official PM Mementos portal, while an accompanying exhibition will allow visitors to view the objects before participating in the online bidding process. The National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) in New Delhi has coordinated the documentation, exhibition and operational aspects of the initiative.
The auction has also previously attracted significant bids for sporting memorabilia. In the 2021 edition, Neeraj Chopra's javelin, which he had presented to the Prime Minister after winning the Tokyo Olympics gold medal, received the highest bid of Rs 1.5 crore.
Other high-value sporting memorabilia included fencer CA Bhavani Devi's signed sabre, which fetched Rs 1.25 crore, and Paralympic gold medallist Sumit Antil's javelin, which fetched Rs 1.002 crore.
The proceeds from the auctions are transferred to the Namami Gange Programme for the rejuvenation and conservation of the Ganga.
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