Chennai: For 72 years since 1947, the Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers in Tamil Nadu did not know about their connect with the “sengol” or historical sceptre that was handed over to the nation’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, by the last British Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten, at the time of Independence.
When Mountbatten had asked Nehru about the ceremony that should be followed to symbolise the transfer of power from the British to India, Nehru had reached out to politician and freedom fighter C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji).
“When Rajaji was asked, the first thing that came to his mind was how 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,” said C.R. Kesavan, great grandson of Rajaji and a BJP leader in Tamil Nadu.
As the idea of was accepted, Rajaji was entrusted with the responsibility to get it executed. He then approached the Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam, a Shaivite mutt in present day Tamil Nadu, and the chief priest of the mutt commissioned the Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers with the task of making the sceptre.
This traditional sengol will now be installed next to the Lok Sabha Speaker’s seat in the new Parliament building being inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 28 May.
Used across kingdoms and dynasties in the world, the sceptre has a symbolic representation, according to T Satyamoorthy, superintending archeologist (retd) at Archaeological Survey of India.
“It has been a symbolic representation reminding the king of his dharma, which is to provide good governance to his people,” he said.
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Loss of records & information
Speaking to ThePrint, Amarendran Vummidi, a fourth-generation member of the Vummidi Bangaru Chetty family, narrated how a 1965 “draconian law” called the Gold Control Act led to the closure of many gold manufacturing factories, including the units of Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers for a short period. This led to loss of data, records and information about some of their rich history.
“In our shop in Chennai, there was a photograph of the sceptre for a very long time, but most of the younger generation had no idea about its significance,” said Amarendran.
It was in 2019, when a Tamil weekly magazine reported about the sceptre and its link to Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers, that the family started efforts to trace the sceptre.
It was after several months, just before the Covid lockdown in 2020, that the family got information that the sceptre was kept in the Allahabad Museum.
During the peak of the Covid pandemic, the jewellers’ family made a video about the sceptre.
“It somehow reached the Prime Minister’s Office and the Prime Minister wanted the information verified. After the information was cross-checked, we were approached by the central government to make a replica of the sceptre,” said Amarendran.
Describing the sceptre, he explained that the traditional sengol that was made by his great-grandfather and his sons was a five-feet-long golden staff that would have used at least a kilogram of gold and in today’s age would have cost around Rs 70-75 lakh.
“The exact weight of the gold cannot be measured now because wood is placed inside the sceptre to give it stability,” he added.
Fashioned at the Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers’ manufacturing unit, the sceptre would have then taken at least “30 days and about five to eight people to work on it”, said Amarendran, adding “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”.
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Educating the younger generation
Well known in the trade, Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers were given the design of the sceptre by the chief pontiff of the Adheenam mutt.
The business was started in 1900 by Vummidi Bangaru Chetty in erstwhile Madras. Hailing from Gudiyatham in Vellore district, the Chetty family has been known as one of the finest jewellery manufacturers for the last 123 years.
When Chetty started the business, he would visit two temples in Gudiyatham, accompanied with two of his sons, during auspicious occasions, recalled Amarendran.
“Of the three sons, one was sent for studies and the two others along with my great-grandfather would go to two temples. They used to take a trunk and on auspicious occasions, devotees would come to them to get their ears and nose pierced. That is how they started the business,” he said.
During the rest of the year, they would be engaged in manufacturing jewellery, he added.
The family soon became a noted name in Madras.
After the sceptre made by Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers came to the limelight recently, the family’s elders have been sharing memories of their clientele with the younger generation.
“Two former chief ministers who were an actor and actress, respectively, were regulars at our jewellery store during their film days. The Ambanis, (former Pepsico CEO) Indra Nooyi and her family have been regular customers. Our clientele is not just from India but from across the globe,” said Amarendran.
The fourth and the fifth generations of the Vummidi family are now running the jewellery shops.
‘A good symbolic gesture’
The Sengol was first handed over to Nehru 15 minutes before India became independent.
“Kumaraswamy Thambiran, deputy high priest of the Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam, took the sceptre from the hands of Mountbatten and purified it with gangajal. As the hymns of the Thevaram (devotional song in praise of the god Shiva) were sung by an oduvar (singer) while the Nadaswaram (instrument) was played by Rajarathnam Pillai, the sceptre was handed over to Jawaharlal Nehru,” narrated Kesavan.
However, soon after, the sceptre — which was described as “symbol of power and authority” in the August 25, 1947, issue of Time magazine — was forgotten.
BJP’s Tamil Nadu state secretary S.G. Suryah said in a social media post that in photos at the museum, the sengol had been termed as Nehru’s “golden walking stick”.
On the sceptre getting its place in the new parliament building, Kesavan said: “Parliament is called ‘Nadalu Mandram’ meaning a place from where the country is ruled. In this way, the placement of the sceptre there is a good symbolic gesture.”
The Nandi bull fashioned on the sceptre symbolises justice.
For the upcoming inauguration, 10 of the 117 members of the Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers’ family will be present in New Delhi — “a proud moment” for the whole family, said Amarendran, adding that after their return to Chennai, the 117 members including the fifth generation will have a grand get together.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also Read: Laud Modi govt for bringing Sengol to new Parliament. Now it must make Murmu hand it over too