Ganga Aarti, Sand Art, Portraits: India Rolls Out a Cultural Red Carpet for Putin

Spiritual and Artistic Welcome for Putin

Ahead of Putin’s high-profile Delhi visit, Varanasi residents performed a special Ganga aarti for his portrait at Dashashwamedh Ghat and joined an “India–Russia Friendship March” carrying posters of Putin and Modi, chanting slogans celebrating bilateral friendship. The march, led by local groups, underlines the symbolic connect between the Russian leader’s trip and the Prime Minister’s constituency.​

Beyond Varanasi, an Amritsar artist created a seven-foot acrylic painting of Putin, while Puri-based sand artist Manas Kumar Sahoo crafted a thematic sand animation welcoming him to India. These gestures coincide with New Delhi’s preparations for a 27-hour, tightly packed schedule covering defence, energy, trade and labour mobility talks, along with ceremonial events at Rashtrapati Bhavan and Rajghat.​​

Key highlights

Special Ganga aarti and “India–Russia Friendship March” held in Varanasi with large cut-outs of Modi and Putin.​

Seven-foot hand-painted portrait of Putin unveiled by an artist in Amritsar as a mark of admiration.​

International sand artist Manas Kumar Sahoo creates sand animation in Puri themed “Welcome President Putin to India”.​

Putin’s first India visit in over four years features a bilateral summit, private dinner with PM Modi, and state banquet by President Droupadi Murmu.​

Talks expected to span defence cooperation, crude oil trade, nuclear energy, small modular reactors and broader strategic ties.​

Sources: Hindustan Times, Lokmat, ANI, PTI, regional media reports and social-media footage from Varanasi, Amritsar and Puri.​​