Manmohan Saini, an artist from the Mahoba area of Uttar Pradesh is filled with pride at the moment as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to greet foreign leaders attending the G20 Leaders Summit on September 9 and 10 and hand out souvenirs that were personally created by him. These unique mementoes are known as ‘kamalam’ and he has produced about 50 of these brass lotuses for this special occasion, as per reports.
This memento is a hand-made artefact of brass in the shape of a lotus. Manmohan Saini stated, “It’s the design that makes these mementoes rare and special.” He has spent more than 30 years perfecting the craft of making brass artefacts.
The Kamalam mementoes are being presented to state heads and other dignitaries visiting Delhi to attend the G20 Summit. The brass lotus mementoes are a perfect match for G20 under India’s chairmanship as the logo of the event has a lotus in it.
Manmohan Saini is a metal craftsman and a national award winner from Mahoba. He expressed, “It is in the form of a special lotus prepared in a way that a slight rotation will open its outermost petals and, on rotating further, will result in a fully bloomed flower.” He added that no other craftsman can make them except him.
Manmohan Saini revealed that it was because of his expertise that representatives from Uttar Pradesh Handicraft Development and Marketing Corporation Ltd approached him eight months ago and told him to create exclusive relics for the G20 summit.
He voiced, “Back then, I took it lightly, thinking G20 would be like any other event but when I saw it on TV recently, I got to know that it is something big and I am fortunate enough to be chosen for the task.”
He noted that it took him about six months to finish the full shipment of 50 artefacts. He explained their characteristics and highlighted that the ‘kamalam’ brass lotus is five inches in length and has eight little and large petals on each.
“Once it is opened the artefact resembles a lotus in full bloom, and when it is closed all the petals are closed inside and a lotus bud is visible. It took three months to make 50 lotuses,” said Saini.
He further added that Lok Sabha MP from Hamirpur, Pushpendra Singh Chandel and the deputy chief minister of the state, Keshav Prasad Maurya, presented the prime minister with a ‘kamalam’ made by him in 2016 at the Bharatiya Janata Party’s ‘Parivartan rally.’
Notably, Prime Minister Modi has picked indigenously developed objects of art to be presented to foreign dignitaries in the past as well in order to emphasise India’s distinctive culture. His wife and the First Lady Dr. Jill Biden also received a similar brooch.
The unique artwork which involves enamelling and colouring silver objects pink is only produced in the Varanasi district of Uttar Pradesh. Gold oxide is used to achieve this pink colour which is the reason behind its name ‘gulabi.’