G20 attendees to get ‘Kamalam’ made by UP artisan, What is it?

Leaders of states, foreign dignitaries and all the delegates at the 18th G20 summit on the 9th and 10th of September in New Delhi will be presented with a unique gift by the Indian Prime Minister. This memento would be a hand-made artifact of brass in the shape of a lotus, named ‘Kamalam’, from Mahoba in Bundelkhand.

The gift/memento has been crafted by Manmohan Saini, a metal craftsman and a national award winner from Mahoba who has made 50 pieces of this artifact. “All the artefacts have been sent to Delhi in advance with spare pieces. I am elated that my work will be seen at such a high level and I am sure the brass work will get a new lease of life after this,” said Saini in Mahoba.

The artifact is five inches tall with 16 petal; eight big and eight small. “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. The corporation experts regularly monitored the making for quality control and design.

The ‘Kamalam’ made by Saini gained prominence when BJP MP Kunwar Pushpendra Chandel gifted it to Prime minister Narendra Modi at the Parivartan rally, who praised the artifact a lot.
District magistrate Mridul Chowdhary said, “It is a matter of pride for Mahoba district and Bundelkhand that such a unique memento made in Mahoba will be given to the sate heads and foreign dignitaries at the G-20 summit.”

Saini had previously won the national award in 2012 and organised an exhibition for her craft in Moscow the same year. “At one time, Mahoba was known because of its brass work in the country but no longer. I hope this will revive the traditional brass work in Mahoba and around,” he said.

Please, also have a look into : Dragon Fruit renamed to ‘Kamalam’ in Gujarat because it looks like Lotus and reminds of China