Aadheenam upset over wrong claims made on Sengol

CHENNAI: Tiruvavaduthurai Aadeenam has said he is saddened over wrong claims on Sengol. “To claim that Sengol was not given is wrong information,” the present-day head of the mutt Ambalavana Desika Paramacharya Swami said while answering a query.

In a first response after the political controversy erupted over placing the Sengol in the new Parliament building, the chief pontiff shared a mutt publication that had photographs on handover of Sengol in 1947.

The Sengol was handed over to Lord Mountbatten and then it was presented to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in 1947 to symbolise transfer of power from the British, the mutt head said speaking to reporters.

“It is a matter of pride for Tamil Nadu that Sengol has gone from the Tiruvavaduthurai Aadeenam located in the Chola country,” the Adheenam added.

The sceptre signified righteousness for a just and fair regime and there are references to the Sengol in Tamil literature including the classic didactic work Tirukkural, the pontiff noted.

The Sengol which was away from the gaze of people would now be prominently displayed in Parliament for the world to see, the head of the monastery said.

The Adheenam further added that the Hindu religious motif on the Sengol keeps with traditions followed during the reign of the Chola kings. “Nandi (the Bull) is placed on the Sengol with a Rishaba (symbol). Nandi symbolises protection of Dharma for all the times to come,” he said citing a Tamil Shaivite hymn to underscore its importance.

The pontiff said Rajaji and other leaders reached out to the then Tiruvavaduthurai Aadeenam over the question of symbolising the transfer of power from the British. In 1947, the mutt was headed by Ambalavana Desika Paramacharya Swami and it was decided to make a Sengol in sync with tradition to symbolise independence and the power transfer. In line with the plan Chennai-based Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers made the fivefoot long Sengol, he said.