New Parliament building inauguration: 'Very proud moment,' say makers of historic Sengol on its installation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi installed a historic ‘Sengol’ next to the Lok Sabha Speaker’s seat in the new Parliament building inaugurated on Sunday.

A 97-year-old family member of Vummidi Bangaru Chetty, the jeweller who made Sengol, expressed their happiness for after the sceptre was installed.

“It is a very proud moment,” said Vummidi Ethiraj of the Vummidi Bangaru Chetty family.

The Vummidi Bangaru family is one of the most well-known jewellers in Chennai. The business was started in 1900 by Vummidi Bangaru Chetty in erstwhile Madras.

Vummidi Bangaru Chetty, who hailed from Gudiyatham in Vellore district, started making jewellery in Pallikonda, his hometown.

As per reports, Vummidi Bangaru Chetty would make jewellery himself and carry it around in a box to sell them. The practice continued till the first jewellery store was established by his family members at Govindappa Naicken Street, situated in George Town, Chennai.

The connection between Vummidi Bangaru Chetty family and the ‘sengol’ is historic one. Before India's Independence, when Lord Mountbatten asked Jawaharlal Nehru about the ceremony to symbolise the transfer of power from the British to India, the latter reached out C Rajagopalachari (Rajaji), the last Governor-General of India.

Rajaji’s great-grandson, CR Kesavan, said that it was the freedom fighter’s idea to have 'Sengol' as they did in the times of the Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas.

“When Rajaji was asked, the first thing that came to his mind was how the transfer of power happened centuries ago in southern India, like in the dynasties of the Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas – with the ritual of the sceptre," a report by The Print quoted CR Kesavan as saying.

After the idea was accepted, Rajaji reached out to Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam, a Shaivite mutt in Tamil Nadu. It was the seer who commissioned the Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers with the task of making Sengol.

As per the information by the Indian government, Vummidi Ethirajulu and his brother Vummidi Sudhakar made the ‘Sengol’ in 1947.

According to Amarendran Vummidi, a fourth-generation member of the family, and who runs the operations with his brother Jithendra, said that the ‘Sengol’ in today’s time would have cost somewhere around Rs 70-75 lakh.

“The sceptre would have then taken at least 30 days and about five to eight people to work on it. There are several fine details like a Nandi (divine bull) at the top of the sceptre and several lines written in Tamil on the sceptre,” the report by The Print quoted Amarendran Vummidi as saying.

With inputs from agencies

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