Washington: US President Donald Trump received a copy of the Hanuman Chalisa during a Diwali celebration in the Oval Office Friday (local time), according to entrepreneur Vishal Gondal, who said he presented the devotional text and prayed for friendship between India and America.
“Honored to celebrate Diwali with President @realDonaldTrump and proud to gift him with a copy of the Hanuman Chalisa, Tulsidas’s hymn to Lord Hanuman that millions of us recite for courage, devotion and strength,” Gondal wrote on X.
The White House’s official schedule listed the celebration for 1:30 pm EST in the Oval Office, with no press access.
“As the diyas were lit, my prayer was for friendship between India and America, and for the triumph of light over darkness,” Gondal wrote.
A photograph showed the cream-coloured book resting against red fabric. Its cover depicted a kneeling Lord Hanuman holding a text, with the title in red lettering, lotus motifs below and metallic protectors on the corners.
In a group photograph, guests in Indian attire and dark suits posed around the president’s desk against a backdrop of gold curtains and flags. Books, telephones and a model aircraft stood on the polished desktop.
The photographs provided glimpses of the gathering, while Gondal’s posts supplied the account of the gift and lamp-lighting.
A photographed programme posted by Gomdal outlined a half-hour ceremony, with presidential remarks and the lighting of a diya scheduled five minutes after the start.
Marked “subject to change”, it listed Secretary of State Marco Rubio, FBI Director Kash Patel and National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya among the planned participants.
Indian Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra, IBM chief executive Arvind Krishna, Micron Technology chief executive Sanjay Mehrotra, chef Vikas Khanna and businesswoman Ruby Dhalla were also listed. Attendance by everyone named in the programme was not independently confirmed
Gondal’s photographs extended beyond the Oval Office, showing guests beside ornate, gold-framed presidential displays and a wall bearing the words “The West Wing” in gold script.
He also shared an image of a large coin resting in an open palm. Its black face carried gold-coloured lettering, a central crest and the inscriptions “President of the United States” and “45th & 47th”, surrounded by a silver-coloured rim.
“The Trump coin I received this Diwali will always remind me of this day,” he wrote.
In a later post, Gondal described the visit in personal terms.
“I never imagined celebrating Diwali in the Oval Office. Being there with President Trump, I felt his magnetic presence firsthand,” he wrote.
White House Diwali observances began during George W Bush’s administration in 2003. Barack Obama became the first sitting US president to light a diya at the White House in 2009, according to the Obama White House archive. That ceremony took place in the East Room.