Museum failed to identify Sengol because no one could translate text engraved in Tamil

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Last Updated30/05/2023

The government is preparing to install the Sengol — a Tamil sceptre gifted to Jawaharlal Nehru on the eve of Independence — in the new Parliament.
It has been on display in the Allahabad Museum in Prayagraj all these years.

Derived from the Tamil word “Semmai”, which means “Righteousness”.
Made of gold or silver and was often decorated with precious stones.
A Sengol sceptre was carried by emperors on ceremonial occasions, and used to represent their authority.
Associated with the Chola Empire of South India.
They had a tradition of handing over the Sengol sceptre from one king to another as a mark of succession and legitimacy.
The ceremony was usually performed by a high priest or a guru who blessed the new king and conferred him with the Sengol.

Before independence, the then Viceroy - Lord Mountbatten posed a question to the to-be Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru: “What is the ceremony that should be followed to symbolise the transfer of power from British to Indian hands?”
PM Nehru then consulted C. Rajagopalachari, commonly known as Rajaji, who went on to become the last Governor-General of India.
Rajaji suggested that the Chola model of handing over the Sengol sceptre could be adopted as a suitable ceremony for India’s independence.
He said that it would reflect India’s ancient civilisation and culture, as well as its unity in diversity.
The Sengol sceptre was presented to PM Nehru by Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam (a 500-year-old Saivaite monastery) on August 14, 1947.