New Delhi,UPDATED: May 27, 2023 20:53 IST
By India Today News Desk: The Adheenam priests, who arrived from Chennai to Delhi earlier today, handed over the Sengol to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday (May 27). The development comes a day ahead of the inauguration of the new Parliament building on Sunday (May 28).
The Adheenam priests met PM Modi at his residence this evening, and he took their blessing. According to sources, Sengol will be installed in the Lok Sabha chamber of the new Parliament between 8:30-9 am tomorrow.
The Sengol is a golden sceptre that was handed over to former PM Jawarhalal Nehru on the eve of India’s Independence. The Sengol was earlier kept in a museum in Allahabad all this time.
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The Sengol has its origins in the Chola empire, where it was used as a symbol of power transfer from one king to another. It had a carving of the Nandi atop it, which is said to be a symbol of justice.
A government document claims that when India got independence from the Britishers in 1947, Sengol solved a dilemma surrounding what could symbolise the power transfer.
Sri La Sri Thambiran, then Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam seer’s deputy, handed over the Sengol to Lord Mountbatten, who handed it back.
The Sengol had ignited a war of words between the BJP and Congress, and the latter refused to the golden sceptre being a symbol of “transfer of power” from the British to the Indians. Taking a swipe at the grand old party, Smriti Irani said that the Congress terming the Sengol as a walking stick shows what the Gandhi family thinks about democracy.
As many as 25 parties are expected to attend the inauguration of the new Parliament building on Sunday. However, 20 opposition parties have decided to boycott the inauguration, as they are upset over PM Modi leading the unveiling, instead of President Droupadi Murmu.
The Adheenam priests and the Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers, who made the Sengol, will be honoured by the prime minister on May 28, during the inauguration of the new Parliament building.
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