Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s announcement on Tuesday that a sengol (spectre) handed over to India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru at the dawn of Independence will be placed in the new Parliament building, has put the focus on a 14th century Tamil Nadu mutt’s tryst with India’s destiny on the eve of August 15, 1947. A Chennai-based jewellery maker also had a role to play in the preparation of the spectre at the eleventh hour.
History behind the Sengol
Historical records show that it was free India’s first and last Governor General C Rajagopalachari who suggested to Nehru that he could receive a spectre from Lord Mountbatten as a symbolic handover of power from the British to India. He told Nehru that in Tamil tradition the ‘rajaguru’ (high priest) of the kingdom would present a spectre to a king when he assumed power. Upon Nehru’s endorsement of the idea, Rajaji, as Rajagopalachari was known, contacted the Thiruvaduthurai Aadheenam (mutt) in present day Myladuthurai district to commission the golden spectre.
The origin of Sengol
Sri La Sri Ambalavana Desika Swamigal, the 20th Gurumaha Sannithanam (head) of the mutt, then contacted Vummidi Bangaru Chetty, a jeweller in Madras to make the golden spectre.
When the spectre was made the mutt head, who was not keeping well, sent it through his representative Sri La Sri Kumaraswamy Thambiran, along with Manickam Odhuvaar (priest who recites prayer) and the mutt’s nadhaswaram vidhwan, TN Rajarathinam Pillai, to Delhi. They went in a special aircraft. Shortly before Nehru made his famous India’s Tryst with Destiny speech, the spiritual guru and odhuvar with nadhaswaram playing in the background presented the spectre to Nehru in the presence of Rajendra Prasad, who later became the first President, and other Congress leaders.
The creation of Sengol
In fact, a policy note of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department tabled a couple of years ago, mentioned this incident. “At the time of enthronement, the traditional guru or the preceptor of the King would handover the ceremonial Sceptre to the new ruler. Following this tradition when the Oduvars completed the singing of the last line of “11th stanza” from Kolaru Pathigam, Thevaram,...Thiruvavaduthurai Aadheenam Thambiran Swamigal handed over the gold-plated silver sceptre to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. This signified the transfer of power from the British Governor-General Lord Mountbatten to the first Prime Minister of India,” it said.
On Tuesday, when news about the spectre finding a place in the new Parliament building broke, the current head of the Thiruvavaduthurai Aadheenam, Sri La Sri Ambalavana Desika Paramacharya Swamigal, said the sceptre will be handed over to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 28.
Sengol's significance in the new Parliament
The Home Minister highlighted that the history and significance of the sengol are relatively unknown to many. The installation of the sengol in the new parliament aims to connect cultural traditions with modernity. Amit Shah praised Prime Minister Modi's foresight in planning to include the sengol in the new parliament, emphasizing the importance of preserving and reflecting upon India's heritage.
