Know from whose letter PM got information about ‘Sengol’, searched all over the country then found in Allahabad
Dr. Padma Subramaniam had read about Sengol in a Tamil magazine. After this a letter was written to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the new Parliament on 28 May. Along with this, a new tradition will also start. PM Modi will install ‘Sengol’ near the Speaker’s seat in the new Parliament House. This is the same ‘Sengol’ which was handed over to Pandit Nehru by the last Viceroy Mountbatten at the time of independence in 1947 as a symbol of transfer of power. This ‘Sengol’ is now kept in the Allahabad Museum.
From whose letter did the PMO come to know?
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) came to know about this Sengol about 2 years ago. Renowned dancer Padma Subrahmanyam wrote a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office. In this letter he mentioned Sengol. According to a report in ‘The Hindu’, Padma Subramaniam, in her letter to the PMO, had quoted an article in the Tamil magazine ‘Tughlaq’, which talked about handing over Sengol to Pandit Nehru in 1947.
This article was published in the May 2021 issue of Tamil magazine ‘Tughlaq’. When noted Bharatanatyam dancer Padma Subramaniam read the article, she felt that everyone should know about such a priceless heritage and decided to write a letter to the PMO. In this letter, it was demanded that the PM should share this information with the countrymen on the occasion of Independence Day.
Ministry team was engaged in finding
Following the letter received by the PMO, the Union Ministry of Culture started the search for Sengol with the help of experts from the Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts (IGNCA). Experts searched for it from the National Archives of India (National Archives) to all the newspapers and documents of that time. All the museums of the country were traced. Finally Sengol was found in the Allahabad Museum.
Sengol was made for Rs 15,000
During this investigation, it was found that the sengol presented to Pandit Nehru by the last Viceroy Lord Mountbatten in 1947 was prepared by the famous Madras-based Vummidi Bangaru Chetty and Sons jewelers and diamond merchants. . At that time it cost Rs 15,000 to make it.
Ministry’s team reached the jeweler
The culture ministry team also inquired with the Wummidi Bangaru Chetty family and they confirmed that the sengol was prepared. According to the report, the oldest person in the family making Sengol is 95 years old. He doesn’t remember much, but he still has a picture of Sengol in his house.
What is sengol?
The word ‘sengol’ is derived from the Tamil word ‘semmai’, which means ‘morality’. Sangol is a kind of scepter. In the Chola dynasty of the 9th century, power was transferred only through Sengol. When a king used to hand over the throne to another king, he used to hand over Sengol as a symbol. In the year 1947, C. Rajagopalachari suggested the transfer of power through Pandit Nehru to Sengol. The sengol that was made in 1947 was of gold and silver. Nandi is seated at the top and it is 5 feet tall. (Read- Full story from becoming Sengol to reaching Pandit Nehru)
