10-08-2025
Message from eastern states in President's ‘At Home' invite to Independence Day guests
A CLOTH bag with a hand-painted M
adhubani tag holds a box woven from sikki grass, a lesser known traditional craft form from Bihar. Inside the box is a bamboo frame carrying an invite and four other paintings, showcasing popular artforms from West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand, besides Bihar.
The eastern states are the focus of around 450 invites being sent this year by Rashtrapati Bhawan for the 'At Home' to be held on August 15 to mark the 79th Independence Day. The invite box has been curated in a way that the paintings and other artifacts can be used independently by the invitees as souvenirs.
Not only the invite but the menu for the event also bears a stamp of the region with dishes such as litti-chokha, mochar chop, aloo-matar chop, dahi-bada, aloo dum and ghoogni being included in the list. Desserts will include chhena poda from Odisha, gur sandesh from West Bengal and anarsa from Jharkhand.
The 500-odd guests at these events include the PM and his Cabinet, diplomats from various missions, senior officials and eminent personalities.
The invitation kits have been carefully curated to showcase the unique heritage and creative excellence of the four eastern states, officials told The Indian Express. 'Every element reflects the skill and imagination of the artists of the region be it the hand-crafted box made of woven grass, the reusable bamboo photo frame, the exquisite folk paintings, or the specially designed block-printed stole,' they said.
The invitation kits have been put together by the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, in collaboration with over 100 artisans, mostly women, from the four states. While nine Madhubani artists from Bihar and 15 bamboo artisans from Jharkhand worked from NID Bengaluru campus, the others worked from their respective villages.
The 'At Home' event at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Republic Day had a southern flavour, showcasing art and culinary delights from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Those in the know say this tradition has been started keeping with President Droupadi Murmu's interest in showcasing the cultural diversity of the country.
According to an official, the idea behind the August 15 invite is to showcase both popular and lesser-known art and craft forms from the four states. For instance, the main box carrying the invite, woven from the golden-hued sikki grass, reflects the delicate artistry of rural craftswomen from Bihar, said the official.
The choice of craft form is also symbolic. The openable frame carrying the printed invite is crafted by tribal artisans from Jharkhand, where bamboo weaving is deeply rooted in tradition. The invite takes the symbolic form of a door, representing the welcoming spirit of Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official said.
The frame has hand-painted Madhubani motifs and houses four paintings typical of the four eastern states. 'Its design allows it to be transformed into a reusable tabletop photo frame, merging tradition with utility,' said the official. The four paintings include Tikuli art, an 800-year-old folk painting style from Patna; Pattachitra, which is practised by the Patua community of Medinipur, Bengal; Talapatra Chitra, the palm leaf scrolls of Odisha; and Paitkar painting, an old tribal scroll tradition from Jharkhand's Amadubi village.
The tussar silk stole has been specially designed and block printed by hand to depict artistic elements common to folk paintings of the region, in a subtle tri-colour theme. Traditional motifs such as 'matsya', 'kamal', 'basant', mirror the rhythms of nature, time and life.
Divya A reports on travel, tourism, culture and social issues - not necessarily in that order - for The Indian Express. She's been a journalist for over a decade now, working with Khaleej Times and The Times of India, before settling down at Express. Besides writing/ editing news reports, she indulges her pen to write short stories. As Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellow for Excellence in Journalism, she is researching on the lives of the children of sex workers in India. ... Read More
