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In a symbolic move, a sacred sceptre that was handed to Jawaharlal Nehru on the eve of Independence to mark the transfer of power from the British will be given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the inauguration of the new Parliament building on Sunday.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said at a press conference on Wednesday that the sacred “sengol” was a symbol of just and fair rule and had been used to mark the transfer of power from one king to the another in the Chola dynasty. He said the Prime Minister would receive it in a ceremony at the new Parliament, where it would be displayed from then on. Made of silver and plated in gold, the sceptre had been preserved at Allahabad Museum till now, Shah said.
“The most important thing is that there is an expectation of just and fair rule by the one who receives the sengol,” he said.
He said most Indians were not aware of the “sacred sengol ceremony” that took place on August 14, just before Pandit Nehru’s famous “Tryst of Destiny” speech at midnight. Nehru received the sengol at his residence from priests of the Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam (Mutt) in Tamil Nadu, who had the sceptre commissioned by a Chennai-based jewellery house, Vummidi Bangaru Chetty, for Rs.15,000, the Home Minister said.
He said the priests first presented the sceptre to the Viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, then took it back and purified it with holy water, before taking it in a procession to Nehru’s residence. There, he was handed the sceptre as the priests recited a song by a 7th Century Tamil saint that concluded with the line: “The followers [the King] will rule as in the heavens, as per our order”.
Asked what the government’s objective behind installing the sceptre at the Parliament was, Shah said: “The aim was clear back then, as it is now. The transfer of power is not done just by shaking of hands and signing on a document.”
“It is a symbol that governance should be just, as per policies and on the path of duty. This will send a message to the public and elected representatives…The placing of the sengol in Parliament is indicative of the same feeling that Jawaharlal Nehru felt on August 14, 1947,” the Minister said.
The sceptre, which is five feet in height and features a nandi or bull on the top, will be installed near the Lok Sabha Speaker’s podium for all to see, he said. The handover ceremony will be attended by priests from the same Mutt and it will be broadcast live on Doordarshan, Shah said.
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