My column articulating “#Sengol“ has been published in today’s (28-5-2023)Pinoeer Newspaper across all languages and editions.
Picture- New Delhi edition
இன்றைய (28-5-2023) டில்லி பதிப்பு ஆங்கில Pioneer ஏட்டில் செங்கோல் குறித்த எனது கட்டுரை வெளிவந்துள்ளது.
From #KSR_Desk
#SENGOL
The scepter that conjures up Tamil legacy and stands as a symbol of Indian Freedom
Scepter (‘sengol’ in Tamil) has, of late, been trending in mainstream media and social media, engendering endless debates over it. The union government led by BJP and helmed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has discovered the ‘sengol’ and its underpinning Tamil tradition and heritage, age-old and awe-inspiring.
That the ‘sengol’ will be the cynosure of eyes in the new Parliament building to be inaugurated on May 26, 2023 is a matter of honor and pride for the Tamil civilization whose antiquity and amazingly timeless glory are understood by India and the world as well, thanks to the excavations apace at Keezhadi, Aditchanallur and other places. The ageless Tamil tradition was revived through the sengol to coincide with the new dawn of the Indian Independence on Aug. 15, 1947.
Consequently a surge of interest has been kindled across the country in knowing the sengol’s history and glory and its rich semiotic and symbiotic connection with the Tamilistic monarchy and its mighty magnificence.
How the ‘sengol’ has grabbed the limelight as it does now is a question worth exploration. For that, we have to travel back to the midnight of August 14, 1947 when India woke up to its new avatar of a free nation as the world was asleep.
Sengol’s August connection
On the eve of Freedom, India’s last British Governor-General Lord Mountbatten asked Nehru, the Prime Minister-designate, what was the Indian ceremony to mark symbolically the transfer of power, guessing that there must be one followed for ages, given that India is a historically old and great civilization. Educated mainly in London and agnostic to the core as he was, Nehru could not come up with a ready answer instantly. So, he diplomatically left the question to Rajaji aka C. Rajagopalachari, the first Indian Governor-General and the Last Governor-General of India.
Soaked in the Hindu scriptures, mythologies and philosophies, Rajaji cracked the nut, saying that ‘sengol’ used to mark the ceremonial acquisition of authority in the Chola times. He further explained that a ‘sengol’ was an ‘āyudh’, a device which signified power and authority of the ruler. An outgoing ruler or his representative presented the Sengol to the incoming ruler at a ceremony where the divine beings were invoked to shower their blessings on the state and its people.
The task of locating a sengol was then assigned to Rajaji. Rajaji, for his part, reached out to one of the oldest surviving mutts in India, the Tiruvavaduthural Aadheenam in Tamil Nadu.
This mutt located in the Mayiladuthurai district, then part of the composite Thanjavur district in Tamil Nadu, has the motto: “Let Saivism and Tamil scale greater heights” (Saivamum Thamizhum Thazhaithini Ongkuga).
The mutt’s head Sri La Sri Ambalavana Desika Swamigal agreed to get a sengol made by a reputable jeweller of Chennai with a ‘Nandi’ image atop it. ‘Nandi’, part and parcel of the Saivist lore, represents strength, patience and service.
A special plane carried the ‘sengol’, along with escorts to Delhi. On August 14, 1947 the Aathenam people including oduvars (holy singers rendering Saivite hymns) took out a solemn procession to Nehru’s residence in New Delhi.
According to the newspapers of the day, nadaswaram maestro Rajarathinam Pillai walked in front of the two emissaries who carried the sengol on pithambaram, a cloth of gold and silk, on a huge silver platter. When they reached Nehru’s residence they were accompanied by a large posse of women who chanted hymns. Many would-be ministers passed by them. They were duly sprinkled with holy water and anointed with a red tilak. Then a sanyasin sprinkled holy water from Thanjavur on Nehru and drew a streak of sacred ash on his forehead. Nehru was wrapped by the priest in the pithambaram and the sengol handed over to him amid chanting of hymns. The scepter was a semiotic reminder that Nehru should head a government fair, transparent and just. Nehru was also given a slice of prasadam offered in the morning to the deity of Nataraj at Thanjavur. A yagna was conducted in Nehru’s courtyard. The PM-designate heard hymns and slokas. After the ceremony was over, he drove to Parliament to deliver his famous ‘Tryst with destiny’ speech.
A Hindu / Indian ceremony preceded the declaration of Independence in the parliament building on the mid-night of August 14/15, 1947. The time in Delhi was approximately 23.30-23.45 hrs. It was to mark the symbolic transfer of power from the British to Indians.
This generation does not know anything about the historic and ritualistic transfer of power to India from the British because historians have made no mention of this very important event though it was duly documented in a number of newspapers like Hindustan Times, Indian Express, Time etc. The Indian Express and the Hindustan Times reported about the symbolic handing over of authority to rule over India to Nehru on the August 15, 1947. Many non-Indian newspapers, including New York Times, reported on this interesting event.
Now harking back to the august event of passing the baton from the British to India, Prime Minister Modi is set to re-create and re-live the event on May 28, 2023 by getting the historic ‘sengol’ ferreted out of the Prayagraj Museum and installed in the new Parliament buildings. All roads now lead to New Delhi.
Controversy over sengol
For the past two days an unpleasant controversy has been apace with a political party dismissing the whole sengol-related event as bogus.
Moreover, there are also critics who slam the religious color of the power assumption ceremony with scepter taking the centrestage in a secular country. Now resumption of scepter matter is incongruous with this digital age, they also say.
They can recall that the coronation of Charles III held at Westminster Abbey on May 6 was performed with all royal regalia by the Archbishop of Canterberry. It was centered around the holy communion held by the Church of England. The new king was coronated with all accompanying religious rituals. He was anointed with holy oil, crowned and given the scepter symbolic of authority. All this in a country, the mother of Parliamentary democracy.
The critics should also keep in mind that ‘sengol’, though part of the old monarchy’s royal paraphernalia, is still used as an emblem of power by the Mayors in our country too. The practice reputed to date back to centuries ago is still in vogue even in this digital age.
The Tiruvavaduthurai Aathenam helmed by Seer Vala Seeri Aatheenam Ambalavana Desikar has now deplored the controversy over sengol, saying, it “deeply pained us’. The Aatheenam has categorically said it was involved in the episode in which Nehru was presented the sengol as a symbol of self-rule. The current attempt on the part of some to profane the holy importance of the sengol is highly sad and unfortunate, the Aatheenam said in a press release.
The Thiruvavaduthurai Aathenam was started in 12th century and had Meikandaar (1125-1175) as its first guru who had written the book ‘Sivagnana Botham.’ Such a glorious institution is the Thiruvavaduthurai Aathenam. But unfortunately some people are trying to detract from the credibility and name and fame of the institution, press release said.
“We were invited to conduct the ritual to mark the transition of power in Delhi Accepting the invitation from Rajaji, our Aathenam conducted the ritual. . There are several supporting documents including ours by way of evidences for it,” said the press release.
Incidentally I personally got a similar confirmation of the sengol-related transfer of power, from the then Aatheenam Sivaprakasha Pandarathaar when I visited Tiruvavaduthurai in connection with some legal case in 2009. In fact, I had been in touch with the aatheenam from 2006 to 2012.
The now famous Sengol is slated to be kept in its rightful place next to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. How much did the Sengol cost in 1947? Vemmudi Bagaru Chetty, jewellers of Chennai charged Rs. 15,000 then. In those days the price of ghee was about Rs. 4 for a kg and the price of gold was about Rs. 90 for a tola. Using these prices as benchmarks, now we can peg the estimated price of the sengol at over Rs. 18 lakh.
Sengol in Tamil literature
The resurrected glory of ‘sengol’ bears testimony to the Tamil pride that resonates with the Indian culture. The Tamil literature, right from the Sangam era, has all along been teeming with allusions and references to the ‘sengol’ which is engraved in the popular Tamil consciousness as a symbol of a good, fair, and unfalteringly honest rule even in the days of monarchy. A bad and corrupt government is denoted by the phrase ‘failure of scepter’ (sengol thavaruthal).
During the ‘Moovendar’ rule in Tamil Nadu divided into three major kingdoms –Chera, Chozha and Pandiya - the sengol held a high place of pride along with throne and crown during the coronation of kings held amid ceremonies and rituals typical of the age-old culture and civilization. When something went haywire in the king’s administration, it was condemnedas‘kondungkonmai’ (dictatorial rule by scepter) and when there was a fair rule, it was hailed as ‘sengkolatchi’ (good rule by scepter).
That is corroborated in one of the ancient Tamil woman poet Avviyar’s lines: “As the boundary (of paddyfield) rises, so water water rises; as water rises, so paddy (crop) rises; as paddy rises, so the citizens rise; as the citizens rise, so the scepter rises; as the scepter rises, so the king rises.”
In these lines, the word scepter (‘kol’ in Tamil) refers to the archetypal wooden rod symbolic of the royal rule called ‘sengol’ in Tamil.
The Tamil literature holding a mirror up to the history of Tamil Nadu is replete with scores of examples of how the ordinary people slammed the rulers, though monarchs, and how kings went to the extent of laying down their lives for safeguarding justice. The examples illustrate how the Tamil civilization, the most ancient in the world, was a torch-bearer to the world’s leading civilizations.
Let us look at some slices of the Tamil political life back in the day.
Kannagi, an ordinary woman citizen, who felt a great injustice was meted to her by the Pandya king Nedunchezhian who had, in a wrongful administration of justice, got her husband Kovalan executed, rushed into the king’s court with guns blazing. Like the most distinguished lawyers of today, she argued so eloquently and toned up her argument by proving that her husband was not the thief of the Queen’s anklet, as he was charged. The king sitting majestically in the throne, wearing the gorgeous crown and holding the sparkling sengol was at last, so shocked by Kannagi’s in-your-face eloquence and firebrand narrative that he fell down from the throne, his scepter rolling down symbolic of his failure of rule, and laid down his life.
This is the most cathartic climax described in a dazzling poetic diction by Ilango Adigal in his immortal epic ‘Silappathkaram’ . The denouement in the drama marked by burning of Madurai by Kannagi was a potent reminder to the rulers, whatever age they belong to, telling them what it would be like if there was even an inadvertent goof-up by a ruler.
Similarly, the story of how Chozha king Manuneethi Chozhan got his son crushed by the wheels of a chair by way of punishing him for having killed a cow’s calf hits home the message that most Tamil kings held in high esteem the ‘sengol’ they held symbolically in order to provide a good and fair administration (Note this point, today’s rulers in democracy!).
Ancient Tamil poets differentiated between a good scepter (‘sengol’ connoting good rule by a king) and a bad scepter (‘kodungol’ connoting bad rule by a king). Tamil kings in the olden days were afraid of backlash from the hoi polloi as well from the men of letters. The poets used the word ‘kol’ (scepter) as a poetic metaphor in their compositions. For instance, Sangam poet Perungkadungko has written the following: “The sun in its fiery and ferocious ire beats down the desert like a badly ruling king’s dictatorial scepter.” (Palaikkali).
Another poet Uruthirangkannanar made use of the scepter (sengol) metaphor in a romantic context and the spear metaphor in the political context: “The forest is as hot as Tiruma Valavan’s spear and the shoulders of his ladylove are as cool as his scepter.” (Pattinappalai).
Tamil scholar Dr. A. Chidambaranathan Chettiyar in his book ‘Sengol Vendhar’ says that Pandiya king Nedunchezhian said as part of a pledge that if he did not defeat his enemies, let the people curse him ‘as a king with a bad scepter’ ( ‘kudipazhi thootrum kolaen aakuga’).
The iconic Tamil sage-poet Tiruvalluvar has spoken about the diabolical scepter (kondungkonmai) in 10 verses (kurals) captioned as ‘Kondungkonmai’ in his immortal work ‘Tirukkural.’ One of the verses compares a heavily taxing king levying excessive taxes on the subjects to a robber with a lethal stick (Tamil word ‘kol’ used in the line to mean the robber’s stick refers not to the king’s scepter but to the weapon the robber wields).
Democracy in TN akin to Athens and RomeThough the Tamil civilization was, by and large, monarchic, features of democracy and republic were also practiced in the Tamil kingdoms.
Historians say that Athens was the cradle of democracy and Rome held aloft republican ideology. John Thorley in his book ‘Athenian Democracy’ says that “The citizens of Athens… did feel involved in government.” Plato’s book ‘Republic’ had several ideas on republican form of government, which had lots to do with republican system in Rome.
But what is generally ignored historically that the Tamil civilization was not unfamiliar with the people-oriented political system. For instance, the ‘kudavolai’ system was in vogue to elect the grassroot-level civic rulers during the Chozha period. It followed a sort of democratic ballot system wherein the names of the candidates were written on palm leaf manuscript and put in a pot. The successful contestants would be elected to the village posts. The Uthiramerur and Palaru inscriptions bear testament to the old civic administration prevalent in the Tamil political culture.
Religious scepters.
Perungulam near Tirunelveli Sengol adhinam was incharge for to act Pandiya king’s coronation and provided sengol as transfer of monarchy power one to his heir .
Dmk founder- leader late C.N.Annadurai also written about sengol issue in their mouthpiece Dravidanadu on 24-8-1947.
Apart from the secular and royal connotation, scepter or ‘sengol’ has also got religious significance. For instance, the Tiruvavaduthurai has got its own scepter with an image of Nandi engraved atop it. In fact, it was this model which was sent all the way to Delhi on the eve of the country’s Independence.Good day rejoiced with special prayers, poems and songs. Poetess Sarojini Naidu set the theme in a radio message: "Oh lovely dawn of freedom that breaks in gold and purple over the ancient capital o . .!"
Later that evening Nehru, and other men who would be India's new rulers on the morrow, went to the home of Rajendra Prasad, president of the There, while several thousand women chanted hymns, the ministers-to-be and constitution-makers business of the evening. At 11 o'clock they gathered in the Constituent Assembly Hall, ablaze with the colors of India's new tricolor flag—orange, white and green. Nehru made an inspired speech: "Long years ago we At the stroke of midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom."
K.S.Radhakrishnan
Political activist,
Editor- Kathaisoli,
Advocate-Arbitrator ,
rkkurunji @gmai.com
#பெருங்குளம்_செங்கோல்ஆதீனம்_வரலாறு
#perungulam_segol_mutt
#பாண்டியர்_கால_செங்கோல்
#sengol_at_parliament
#Thiruvadurai_Adhinam
#K_S_Radhakrishnan
#KSR_Post
28-5-2023.
