The physical auction of Mementos received by the Prime Minister, organised by National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, under the aegis of Ministry of Culture, received an overwhelming response from passionate bidders on Day 1 today, the 27th January, 2019. The two-day physical auction shall culminate on 28th January 2019 and the e-auction will take place from 29th to 31st January 2019 for remaining items which are not sold during the physical auction on the portal www.pmmementos.gov.in.
Exclusive items that were auctioned included statues, photographs, paintings and articles such as angavastram, shawls, commemorative coins, traditional musical instruments, hats, pagris and jackets etc. to name a few. There has been tremendous buzz generated in respect of these gift items in view of the fact that these items have been accessible to the general public through auction being espoused for the noble charitable work. The proceeds contributes towards the project Namami Gange.
The bidders supported the cause wholeheartedly as certain items such as statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, base priced at Rs. 1000/- was finally auctioned for Rs. 22,000/-, items such as statues of Gautam Buddha, portraits, photographs and paintings of Prime Minister, 3D painting of Gomukh (an origin of The holy river Ganga), Statue of Mahatma Basveshwara, Statue of Swami Vivekananda and silver coated Shivlinga were also auctioned at a high price. Public also enjoyed viewing the display of these items at the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.
Union Minister for Railways and Commerce Shri Piyush Goyal, Member of Parliament Shri Manoj Tiwari and Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi visited the auction along with other dignitaries and senior officials from the Government of India.