By India Today News Desk: Ahead of the inauguration of the new Parliament building in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday placed Tamil Nadu’s historic sceptre Sengol near the Lok Sabha Speaker’s chair on Sunday. PM Modi and LS Speaker Om Birla participated in an early morning puja and also honoured workers who built the Parliament building.

The ceremony began after PM Modi arrived at the new Parliament building at 7 am. Priests from adheenams in Tamil Nadu offered flowers to Sengol as PM Modi performed havan to mark the inauguration of the new Parliament building.

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In a ceremony steeped in tradition and symbolism, the prime minister was handed over the Sengol by Adheenam seers. He prostrated before the Sengol and sought blessings from high priests of various adheenams in Tamil Nadu with the holy sceptre in hand.

Modi then carried the Sengol in a procession amid tunes of “nadaswaram” and chanting of Vedic mantras to the new Parliament building and installed it in a special enclosure on the right side of the Speaker’s chair in the Lok Sabha chamber.

The sceptre was received by India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, to mark the transfer of power from the British in 1947.

PM Modi bowed as a mark of respect before the Sengol during the ceremony to mark the beginning of the inauguration of the new Parliament building.

The prime minister also received blessings of seers of different Adheenams from Tamil Nadu after the installation of the Sengol. After installing the Sengol, PM Modi inaugurated the new Parliament building.

Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, S Jaishankar and Jitendra Singh, chief ministers of several states and BJP president J P Nadda was present on the occasion.

The prime minister felicitated some workers who played key roles in the construction of the new Parliament building.

The inauguration of the new Parliament building, however, comes amid a row as 20 Opposition parties have given a call to boycott the event, saying that the Parliament should have been inaugurated by the President and not PM Modi.

On the eve of the ceremony, PM Modi, while receiving the Sengol which is to be placed inside the Parliament, took a jibe at the Congress party, saying that it was unfortunate that a piece of history was kept on display for so many years by the Congress as a “walking stick”.

THE HISTORY OF SENGOL

• The Sengol, a Chola-era spectre made of silver with a coat of gold, is a symbol of the transfer of power from the British in 1947.
• The sceptre is five feet in length and has a Nandi, Lord Shiva’s sacred bull, on the top, symbolising justice.
• The term Sengol is derived from Tamil word ‘semmai’, meaning righteousness, according to an official document. The sceptre is a “significant historical” symbol of Independence that signifies the transfer of power from the British to Indians, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said.
• “Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru accepted Sengol at around 10:45 pm of August 14, 1947, through the Adhinam of Tamil Nadu, it was a sign of the shift of power from Britishers to the people of our country,” he said.
• Amid the dilemma as to what symbolism should be adopted to mark the transfer of power, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had turned to C Rajagopalachari, the veteran freedom fighter from Tamil Nadu, for help. Rajaji found the answer in India’s past, in the traditions of the Chola kingdom.
• The then Seer, the 20th Guru Mahasannidhanam Sri La Sri Ambalavana Desika Swami, commissioned the making of the Sengol to the famous jewellers, Vummidi Bangaru, in Madras. He assigned his deputy, Sri La Sri Kumaraswamy Thambiran to go to Delhi with the Sengol and conduct the ceremonies along with the Adheenam’s Oduvar (special singer) Sri Manickam and the famous player of the nadaswaram, Shri Rajarathinam Pillai.
• Sri La Sri Thambiran handed over the Sengol to Lord Mountbatten, who handed it back. The Sengol was then purified by sprinkling holy water on it. It was then taken to Nehru’s residence to conduct the ceremonies and hand over the Sengol to the new ruler.
• In common parlance in Prayagraj, it was called the “raaj dand”, while in the museum records, it was mentioned as “sunahari chharhee”, the officials told PTI.

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(With agency inputs)