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The Sengol

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Sengol at India's new Parliament

Sengol (IAST: ceṅkōl) is a gold-plated silver sceptre that is installed in India's New Parliament House.[1] Originally gifted to Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, by a delegation of holy men on 14 August 1947, the sceptre was housed in the Allahabad Museum for seven decades.[2] In 2023, the sceptre was moved to the newly-constructed Parliament House by the incumbent Hindu nationalist government of Narendra Modi, who propagated an ahistorical narrative by claiming the Sengol as a symbol of the transfer of power from the British regime unto Indians.[3][4]

History

Nehru

As the Independence of India drew near, Jawaharlal Nehru and other members of the Indian National Congress took part in many religious ceremonies and received gifts.[3][4] On one such occasion, on 14 August, Nehru was presented with the Sengol by emissaries from the Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam Matha at his home.[3][4]

From Tanjore in south India came two emissaries of Sri Amblavana Desigar, head of a sannyasi order of Hindu ascetics. Sri Amblavana thought that Nehru, as first Indian head of a really Indian Government ought, like ancient Hindu kings, to receive the symbol of power and authority from Hindu holy men [...] One sannyasi carried a sceptre of gold, five feet long, two inches thick. He sprinkled Nehru with holy water from Tanjore and drew a streak in sacred ash across Nehru's forehead. Then he wrapped Nehru in the pithambaram and handed him the golden sceptre.

— INDIA: Oh Lovely Dawn, Time, 25 August 1947.

The event had negligible impact on contemporary discourse;[5] detailed coverage was scarce except for an article by C. N. Annadurai who warned of the socio-political implications of Nehru's acceptance and argued that among the motive of the priests was to convince the public, years thence, that they had inaugurated the new government.[6] Sometime soon, the sengol and other belongings of Nehru were donated to the Allahabad Museum, where it was labelled as a 'Golden Stick gifted to Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru'; it woukd remain in oblivion until its usage by Narendra Modi, the incumbent prime minister of India, in the inauguration of the New Parliament in 2023.[2][5]

Modi

At the inauguration of the new Parliament, Modi installed the Sengol near the chair of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha; the installation was accompanied with Hindu prayers.[2][7] Simultaneously, the Government of India propagated a narrative — including by a film — that claimed it to be a symbol of the transfer of power from the British regime into the hands of the Indians.[3]

PM Modi receiving 'Sengol' from Hindu (Adheenam) priests in 2023

This narrative was sourced in toto from an article by Swaminathan Gurumurthy, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologue who, in turn, had attributed it to the recollections of Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi, the 68th head of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, as told to a disciple in 1978.[4] The rough description went as follows — Jawaharlal Nehru upon being enquired by Lord Mountbatten about such a symbol on the eve of independence, had discussed the issue with his fellow Congress leader C. Rajagopalachari; Rajagopalachari apprised him of the Chola tradition of the transfer of the Sengol and upon Nehru's agreement, approached the seer of Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam Matha to make one.[3][8] This would be presented by a delegation that flew to Delhi in a special plane, to Mountbatten followed by Nehru in an official ceremony.[3][8]

All of these details are inaccurate.[3][4][5] There is no evidence to suggest that either Mountbatten or Rajagopalachari was involved in the process, that the ceremony had any official significance, that Nehru perceived the event as a transfer-of-power, or that the delegation went by flight.[3][4][9] Upon criticism by Indian National Congress for lacking in facts, the ruling party marshalled a collection of sources — from monographs by Perry Anderson to blogs — as evidence in support of the narrative; however, they did not support any of the claims either.[10]

Design

Sengol is a handcrafted gold-plated sceptre, about 5 feet (1.5 m) in length, with a diameter of about 3 inches (76 mm) at the top and 1 inch (25 mm) at the bottom. Encasing a wooden staff, it is surmounted by a sitting Nandi to symbolise justice and sturdiness.[11][12][13][14][15] It was crafted by Vummidi Bangaru Chetty, a jeweler from Chennai.[11]

Reception

The New York Times noted the sceptre to have emerged as a key object encapsulating the meaning of the new Parliament under Modi's regime — "to shed not just the remnants of India's colonial past, but also increasingly to replace the secular governance that followed it."[7] Some found the Sengol to be a relic of monarchy that does not belong to the era of Parliamentary democracy.[16]

Electoral Politics

Political analysts agree that the episode around Sengol was, among other things, to present the Bharatiya Janata Party as champions of Tamil culture and command electoral significance in the South, where they have been traditionally lacking in numbers.[17] Soon after the Sengol installation, Amit Shah asked Tamil voters to elect 25 BJP legislators to the parliament, as a show of gratitude.[18]

See also

Reference

  1. ^ "Inspired by the Cholas, handed over to Nehru: historic 'Sengol' to be installed in new Parliament building". The Hindu. 24 May 2023. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "Fact-Check: The Sengol Was Never Labelled 'Walking Stick', Nor Kept in Anand Bhawan". The Wire. 29 May 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "The Many Holes in the Union Government's Claims Around the Sengol". The Wire. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Sengol | Evidence thin on government's claims about the sceptre". The Hindu. 25 May 2023. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "Manu S Pillai on Sengol: For some, rediscovery is cultural renascence, for others, political Hinduisation of a national symbol". The Indian Express. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  6. ^ "Annadurai Cautioned the 1947 Govt and Nehru About the Motives Behind the 'Gift' of the Sengol". The Wire. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Modi Opens India's New Parliament Building as Opposition Boycotts". New York Times.
  8. ^ a b "Mutt's tryst with destiny 15 minutes before freedom". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  9. ^ "1947 'sengol' story just fiction based on manufactured lies: N. Ram". frontline.thehindu.com. 31 May 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  10. ^ Staff, Scroll (26 May 2023). "Government docket to journalists on sengol authenticity includes column titled 'WhatsApp History'". Scroll.in. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  11. ^ a b "Why a historic 'sengol' is being installed in new Parliament building & how it was made". ThePrint. 24 May 2023.
  12. ^ "New Parliament: What Is The Significance Of Sengol In Rs 20,000 Crore-Worth Central Vista Project?".
  13. ^ "INDIA: Oh Lovely Dawn". Time. 25 August 1947. ISSN 0040-781X. Archived from the original on 24 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  14. ^ "New Parliament building opening | How a letter to PMO set off a search for the Sengol". The Hindu. 24 May 2023. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 24 May 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  15. ^ அகஸ்டஸ் (25 May 2023). "நாடாளுமன்றத்தில் செங்கோல்; இதற்கும் சோழர்களுக்கும் என்ன தொடர்பு? - தரவுகளுடன் விரிவான அலசல்". www.vikatan.com (in Tamil). Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  16. ^ "The Sengol Is a Symbol of 'Divine Right' to Power". The Wire. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  17. ^ Nath, Akshaya (3 June 2023). "Sengol puts focus on Tamil Nadu's Adheenams. Wings clipped by Dravidian politics, now courted by BJP". ThePrint. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  18. ^ "T.N. should elect over 25 NDA MPs as thanks for Sengol installation: Amit Shah". The Hindu. 11 June 2023. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 11 June 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  • Media related to Sengol at Wikimedia Commons
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