by: NavJeevan

TN’s historical sceptre ‘Sengol’ will be installed in new Parliament building: Amit Shah

NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MAY 24

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will install golden ‘Sengol’, a historical sceptre from Tamil Nadu, near the Speaker’s seat in the new parliament building which is scheduled to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, May 28, 2023, Home Minister Amit Shah said on Wednesday.

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The ‘Sengol’ was received by , Independent India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, from Lord Mountbatten to symbolically represent the transfer of power from the British and was later kept in a museum in Allahabad. The Home Minister said this sceptre is called “sengol” – which derives from the Tamil word “semmai”, meaning “righteousness”.

  • “Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru accepted ‘Sengol’ at around 10:45 pm of August 14, 1947 through the Adhinam of Tamil Nadu. It was a sign of shift of power from Britishers to the people of our country,” Amit Shah said
  • The plan to install the sengol in the new parliament also reflects the far-sightedness of Prime Minister Modi: Shah
  • We want the administration to run by the rule of law and this will always remind us of that: Home Minister

Tamil tradition marked the transfer of power on Independence Day in 1947

The ‘sengol’ came into being after a chain of events that started with a simple question by Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of British India, to Prime Minister Nehru. According to historical accounts and news reports, Mountbatten had asked the soon-to-be-PM what would mark the transfer of power when India attains Independence. Prime Minister Nehru then turned to C Rajagopalachari, the country’s last Governor General, for advice. Mr Rajagopalachari, commonly known as Rajaji, told Prime Minister Nehru about the Tamil tradition of the high priest handing over a sceptre to a new king when he comes to power. Rajaji, reports said, said this tradition was followed during the reign of the Cholas and suggested this could mark India’s freedom from the Raj. It then fell upon Rajaji to arrange a sceptre for the historic moment. 

Thiruvaduthurai Atheenam  helped in the making of Sengol

Faced with the daunting task of arranging the sceptre that will mark India’s Independence, Rajaji contacted Thiruvaduthurai Atheenam, a prominent mutt in present-day Tamil Nadu. The then seer of the mutt accepted the responsibility. The sengol was made by Vummidi Bangaru Chetty, a jeweller in then Madras. It is five-feet in length and has a ‘nandi’ bull on top, symbolising justice.

According to reports, a senior priest of the mutt first handed over the sceptre to Mountbatten and then took it back. It was then sprinkled with gangajal, taken in a procession to Prime Minister Nehru and handed over to him, reportedly 15 minutes before midnight, when India attained Independence. A special song was composed and rendered as Prime Minister Nehru received the sceptre.

Sengol’s Place In New Parliament

The history and significance of the ‘sengol’, the Home Minister said, was not known to many. Its installation in the new parliament, he said, was an attempt to link our cultural traditions with our modernity. The plan to install the sengol in the new parliament also reflects the far-sightedness of Prime Minister Modi, Shah said. The sengol is now at a museum in Allahabad from where it will now be brought to its new address – the parliament.

Responding to media queries, Shah stressed that the Sengol should not be linked to politics. “We want the administration to run by the rule of law and this will always remind us of that,” he said. The installation of the sceptre, now at a museum in Allahabad, in parliament puts the spotlight on a forgotten episode of history.