India, Oct. 7 -- A brass Buddha and a Tibetan prayer wheel from Sikkim now sit in the same online catalogue as a silver Lord Ram from Karnataka, as the eighth PM Mementoes e-auction gives citizens a chance to own a piece of gifts received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from various states, an effort the culture ministry calls a "unifying force" for the country's traditions.

Union culture minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said at the launch in New Delhi that the scheme rests on a simple principle that PM Modi believes "what the country has given him is not his to keep," and that the gifts must therefore be returned to the people, with the proceeds going toward cleaning the Ganga.

The tradition goes back to Narendra Modi's days as Gujara...