Sengol 

• At the inauguration of the new Parliament building a historic sceptre called Sengol was installed next to the Lok Sabha Speaker’s seat.
• Sengol is derived from the Tamil word semmai, meaning righteousness. The sceptre is a significant historical symbol of Independence that signifies the transfer of power from the British to Indians.
• Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru accepted Sengol on August 14, 1947, through the Adhinam of Tamil Nadu, it was a sign of the shift of power from Britishers to the people of the country.
• Before Independence, Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy, asked Nehru if there was a ceremony that should be followed to symbolise the transfer of power.
• Nehru consulted C Rajagopalachari, the last Governor-General, who suggested that the newly formed nation should follow a tradition of the Chola dynasty, where the transfer of power from one king to the other was sanctified and blessed by high priests.
• The symbol (for the transfer of power) used was the handover of the ‘Sengol’ from one King to his successor.

Making of The Sengol

• Rajagopalachari reached out to various mutts in Tamil Nadu and it was Thiruvaduthurai Atheenam (a well-known mutt in Tanjore district) that provided it.
• The leader of the mutt commissioned the manufacturing of the Sengol to Chennai-based Vummidi Bangaru Chetty jewellers, and it was built by Vummidi Ethirajulu and Vummidi Sudhakar.
• The sceptre is five feet in length and has a Nandi, Lord Shiva’s sacred bull, on the top, symbolising justice.