G-20 summit attendees to get unique artefact ‘Kamalam’ from UP as memento

Mahoba (Uttar Pradesh): Foreign dignitaries and state heads coming to attend G-20 Summit to be held in Delhi on September 9 and 10 will get a unique gift as a memento from India, a hand made artefact of brass in the shape of a lotus named ‘Kamalam’.
The sculpture crafted by Manmohan Soni, metal artist from Kulpahar area in Mahoba district in Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh has been selected by the UP Handicrafts Development and Marketing Corporation Limited (UPHDMC).
The UPHMDCL has asked Manmohan to prepare 50 lotus sculptures, so that the artefact ‘Kamalam’ could be sent to Delhi in time before the G-20 summit begins.
The brass artefact made by artisan Manmohan is five inches tall. “It has 16 petals including 8 big and 8 small petals. Once opened the artifact resembles a lotus in a full bloom. When closed, all the petals get closed inside and only the lotus bud is visible. It took me one month to prepare 50 sets of ‘Kamalam’,” Soni said.
District Magistrate Mridul Choudhary said that UPHDMC had directly contacted the craftsman Manmohan Soni in this matter and had taken the supply of ‘Kamalam’. “It is a matter of pride for Mahoba and Bundelkhand that the unique crafts here will be gifted to the foreign guests in the G-20 summit,” he said.
Soni, who won the State Handicraft Award in 1998, National Merit Award in 1997 and National Award in 2012, is a master of crafting brass artefacts. He had organised an exhibition of his artworks in Moscow in 2012.
Kamalam was presented to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and MP Pushpendra Singh Chandel in the Parivartan Rally organised in Mahoba in 2016. PM Modi liked the artefact very much at that time.
Soni’s entire family is known for creating picturesque brass artworks. Manmohan’s elder brother Kalyan Das has also won the National Award. His younger brothers Azad and Shivkumar have also won state awards.
UNI