Inside Rashtrapati Bhavan: A story of the Republic through music, art and cuisine

President’s Bodyguard personnel during a rehearsal for the Republic Day parade, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi, January 11, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
Shahbaz Khan

This Republic Day, after the calibrated spectacle of India’s military might, a quiet story of the Nation’s diversity and federalism will be subtly narrated at the Rashtrapati Bhavan through cuisine, music and art from eight North-Eastern states.

The invitation to the President Droupadi Murmu’s traditional ‘At Home’ reception on January 26 is a chronicle of this story foretold. This stunning invite is a creative map of India’s North Eastern region drawn through bamboo splits, nettle fibre, hand-spun yarn and black stone pottery. This curated ensemble of objects advance a deliberate argument: that the Indian republic is built as much by its margins as by its centre.

“The project is the third in a sequence. Over the past two years, Rashtrapati Bhavan’s Republic Day and Independence Day invitations have taken on a rotating regional focus, first the southern states, then the eastern states, and now the Ashtalakshmi or eight states of the North East,” said a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson.

The idea originated from President Murmu, who has encouraged the use of the Rashtrapati Bhavan as a space to reflect India’s civilisational diversity rather than a singular aesthetic of power. Execution was entrusted to the National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad. The project involved extensive travel by NID teams across the region, engagement with artisan communities and alumni. More than 350 artisans collaborated directly with NID faculty, students and technical staff, while over 200 craftspeople worked from their villages to realise different components of the kit.

“The invitation is structured as a sequence of encounters with material culture. The outer box uses a woven bamboo mat made on a loom, a technique commonly practised in Tripura, paired with a bamboo ornament from Meghalaya. Decorative motifs reference Assamese manuscript painting, while the fabric panel beneath the invite carries stylised depictions of the region’s flora and fauna,” Ashok Mandal, Director, NID, told businessline.

At the centre of the invitation is a wall-hanging bamboo scroll, constructed using an octagonal weave pattern. Its form evokes the loin loom, a portable weaving device used widely by women across the North East, and unfolds to reveal handcrafted artefacts from each state. The tricolour threads running through the structure quietly anchor the objects to the national frame. Each artefact is specific, local and functional. From Sikkim comes Lepcha ‘thara’ weaving using yarn made from stinging nettle. Meghalaya is represented through green bamboo weaving from Mawsynram.

From Arunachal Pradesh comes the Mon Shugu handmade paper for the invite, produced by the Monpa community from forest-foraged bark and shaped into the silhouette of the mithun, the state animal. Assam’s presence is musical: the gogona, a bamboo jaw harp associated with Rongali Bihu. Tripura’s contribution takes the form of cane and bamboo jewellery, while Nagaland is represented by a rare textile woven from wild orange rhea and stinging nettle fibres by the Khiamniungan Naga community. Mizoram’s Puan Chei, meticulously woven on loin looms, and Manipur’s Longpi black pottery, shaped from serpentine stone and local clay and depicting the Shirui Lily, complete the ensemble.

The invitation’s logic extends beyond design. The ‘At Home’ reception itself will feature North Eastern cuisine, décor and music, reinforcing the idea that the kit is not an ornamental gesture but part of a larger, immersive narrative.

Published on January 21, 2026