Kashi temple wooden replica among highly bid gifts of Modi

A red table tennis racket autographed by CommonWealth Games 2022 gold medallist Bhavina Patel. Credit: Special Arrangement

A Madhubani painting by artist Pratibha KR depicting the journey of Covid in India. Credit: Special Arrangement

A wooden replica of Kashi Vishwanath Temple, a T-shirt signed by the Deaflympics 2022 team, and a red table tennis racket autographed by CommonWealth Games 2022 gold medallist Bhavina Patel, are among the items that have received the maximum bids during the auction of the PM’s mementoes.

The National Gallery of Modern Art this week extended the closing date of over 1,200 items on sale to October 12; the auctions went live on September 17.

The wooden temple, gifted to Modi by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on the day the temple complex was inaugurated, has received 283 bids. It went on sale for
Rs 16,200 and is currently on a bid for Rs 49.75 crore.

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Second in line is a T-shirt, autographed by the 65 team members who represented team India at Deaflympics in Brazil 2022; it has received 222 bids till now. It started with a base price of Rs 5 lakh. With 216 bids, Patel’s table tennis racquet stands third; the racquet, too, started out at a base price of Rs 5 lakh.

NGMA director-general Adwaita Gadanayak said the response this year has been better, than last year due to the Covid norms.

“We could display the items this year so that people can come and see what they are buying. People are generally enthusiastic to have a slice of PM Modi’s life in their lives, and the number of biddings stands proof,” he said.

Gadanayak said among the interesting items on display is a Madhubani painting by artist Pratibha KR depicting the journey of Covid in India, and depicts precautions such as wearing a mask, washing hands, maintaining distance, etc.

Starting at a base price of Rs 32,900, it is currently under bid and is going for Rs 3.18 lakh. Apart from that, a membership card from the NCC Alumni Association, starting at Rs 100, is underbid for Rs 41,000 now.

Last year, Neeraj Chopra’s javelin from the Tokyo Olympics fetched 1.5 crore and is now the item that has fetched the highest sum. The javelin was autographed by Chopra and was used by him to win the gold medal in the javelin throw at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Chopra had gifted the javelin to Modi.