The expected Democratic presidential nominee turned 47 yesterday and shared his special day with hundreds of friends and other admirers, who paid up to $28,500 (Rs 13 lacs, approx) for the honor.

Introducing Obama, Massachusetts Sen John Kerry said: "I asked Barack Obama what he wanted for his birthday.

He said, '"Indiana, Colorado and Virginia,"' said Kerry, referring to three potential swing states Obama hopes to win in the November 4 election.

The election is won on a state-by-state basis.

In a ballroom on the 33rd floor of a downtown skyscraper overlooking Boston Harbor, Obama was serenaded first by singer Harry Connick Jr and Connick's 10-year-old daughter, Kate, and then by the entire room in an animated rendition of "Happy Birthday."

About 850 people attended the birthday fundraiser, which cost between $1,000 (Rs 42,450) and $4,600 (Rs 2 lacs, approx) per ticket.

The Illinois senator received two gifts.

The first was a Hawaiian shirt emblazoned with symbols of Boston's Red Sox baseball team to wear on a vacation that begins later this week in Hawaii, where he was born.

"As a White Sox fan, this hurts a little bit," Obama said, referring to the Chicago based team.

But all was well when he opened the second present; it was a near-identical shirt with Chicago White Sox symbols on it.