Team News Riveting
New Delhi, May 27
The Adheenams, who arrived from Tamil Nadu earlier in the day, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence and handed him special gifts, including ‘Sengol’ amid chanting of ‘mantras’.
Modi on Saturday met Adheenams at his residence and took their blessings a day before he inaugurates the new Parliament building. The sacred ‘Sengol’ was handed over by the 293rd head priest of Madurai Adheenam, Sri Harihara Desika Swamigal.
The Sengol is a significant historical symbol of the ‘transfer of power between the Britishers and India. It was then handed over to India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Addressing the Adheenams, Prime Minister said the Sengol was placed in a museum in Allahabad’s Anand Bhawan and was presented as a “walking stick”.
The prime minister will on Sunday inaugurate the new Parliament building, equipped with state-of-the-art technology, amid a boycott by several Opposition parties which insist that President Droupadi Murmu as head of the State should do the honours. On Friday, Modi said the new Parliament building will make every Indian proud and shared a video of the new complex.
The Sengol will be placed close to the chair of the Lok Sabha Speaker after the inauguration of the New Parliament Building on Sunday. The glorious Sengol is made by Vummidi Bangaru Chetti and Sons, Jewellers and Diamond merchants of Madras and was studded with jewels worth Rs 15,000. With a Nandi Bull on its top, the sceptre is purified with waters from holy rivers. It symbolises virtual, ethical rule and is highly spoken of in the ancient Tamil texts. The word Sengol is based on the Tamil word ‘Semmai’, meaning ‘Righteousness.’
After Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced about the installation of the golden Sengol in the New Parliament Building, the opposition parties contested its significance. On Friday, Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam, the Shaivite Mutt that gave Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru the Sengol, challenged the Congress party’s claims.
In a statement, the Mutt said that the leader’s comments were false and there were multiple documented sources both within the organisation and outside.
