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NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Sunday receive the historical and sacred ‘Sengol‘, which is a symbol of the transfer of power from the British to India, and install it in the new Parliament building on May 28.
Sengol, which is a Tamil word for sceptre, was given to first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in August 1947 by the deputy pontiff of Thiruvavaduthurai ‘adheenam’(non-Brahmin Shaivite mutts in Tamil Nadu).
PM Modi will receive the Sengol from pontiffs of 20 ‘adheenams’ from Tamil Nadu, who will preside over the rituals. They will hand over the ‘Sengol’ at 7.20am after a 20-minute ‘homam’ or ‘havan’. Prime Minister Modi will then install it on a pedestal to the right of the Speaker’s chair.
Here are the top 10 points of the story:
Sengol, which is a Tamil word for sceptre, was given to first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in August 1947 by the deputy pontiff of Thiruvavaduthurai ‘adheenam’(non-Brahmin Shaivite mutts in Tamil Nadu).
PM Modi will receive the Sengol from pontiffs of 20 ‘adheenams’ from Tamil Nadu, who will preside over the rituals. They will hand over the ‘Sengol’ at 7.20am after a 20-minute ‘homam’ or ‘havan’. Prime Minister Modi will then install it on a pedestal to the right of the Speaker’s chair.
Here are the top 10 points of the story:
- ‘Sengol’ is a word derived from the Tamil word ‘Semmai’, meaning ‘righteousness.’ The five feet ornamental sceptre is crowned with the sacred Nandi, with its unyielding gaze. The Nandi on top of the ‘Sengol’ is symbol of ‘nyaya.’
- Made of silver with a coat of gold, the historical sceptre will be installed near the chair of the Lok Sabha Speaker on May 28 by PM Modi accompanied by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and the pontiffs from Tamil Nadu.
- The transfer of power during Chola times was sanctified by Saivite high priests. C Rajagopalachari had then requested the leader of the Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam in Tamil Nadu (then Madras Presidency) to do the same, for power to pass on to Indian hands from the British.
- The leader of the Adheenam immediately commissioned jeweller Vummidi Bangaru Chetty for the preparation of the ‘Sengol’ in four weeks.
- The sceptre was first handed over to Lord Mountbatten by a priest of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam. It was however taken back and purified with gangajal.
- The Chola-style handover was celebrated with the singing of a special song composed for the occasion. Tamil poet saint Thirugnanasambandar wrote and sang the verses called “Kolaru Padhigam” in the seventh century CE, as a prayer to remove difficulties.
- Since then, the Sengol has been on display at Nehru’s Collection gallery at the Allahabad museum and now has been moved to Delhi for its installation in the new building of Parliament.
- At least 31 members of the ‘adheenams’ will leave Chennai for New Delhi in two batches on chartered flights. Ahead of the ceremony on May 28, Modi will honour them at his residence at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg.
- Vummidi Ethirajulu, 96, and Vummidi Sudhakar, 88, two people involved in the making of the original Sengol are expected to attend the new Parliament building inauguration function.
- Union home minister Amit Shah said that the Parliament would be the most sacred and suitable place for the sengol adding that it will be a reflection of ‘Amrit Kaal’, which will witness the glorious moment of New India taking its rightful place in the world.
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