Days after The Hindu claimed that the Chola era sceptre Sengol, which has been installed in the new parliament, was not presented to Lord Mountbatten first to be used as a symbol of the transfer of power to Nehru, the Hindu math in Tamil Nadu that crafted the Sengol has released an official statement condemning the report. It was issued by guru Maha Sannidhanam of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam and it started by labelling the latter as “mischievous” and a “distortion of facts.”
The Hindu on June 8 published a report titled “Not clear if Sengol was presented to Mountbatten, says Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam head” alleged that the head of the Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam in Tamil Nadu’s Mayiladuthurai district said that there is no clear information whether the sceptre was presented to Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy to India, before it was given to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on the eve of India’s independence.
The Hindu report quoted Sri La Sri Ambalavana Desika Paramacharya Swamigal, the 24th head of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam. He was quoted as saying, “There is no clear information on it. Some say the Sengol was given to Lord Mountbatten. The people, who belonged to that period also say the same thing.”
As per the report, the Adheenam chief also commented that there was no use in giving the sceptre to Lord Mountbatten as he was already leaving India, and it was given directly to Jawaharlal Nehru. It is notable that as per the govt version, the Sengol was first given to Mountbatten, who returned it to the priests, after which it was presented to Nehru, symbolising the transfer of power.
However, now the Adheenam has accused the Hindu of distorting the statements of the head of the Adheenam. The statement said, “There is a report in the Hindu dated June 9th that the Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam is ‘not clear if sceptre was presented to Mountbatten.’ This is taken out of context and is a distortion of facts. The Adheenam was accosted by the Hindu reporter after the morning puja, and the responses have been misreported out of context.”
The statement issued by the Adheenam today has decisively debunked the fake & false narratives peddled by vile sections.
— C.R.Kesavan (@crkesavan) June 9, 2023
Apologise.
Answer to the nation –
Why was the Sengol dishonoured & disgraced since 1947 and banished away as a golden walking stick in a museum? pic.twitter.com/3fOct6hkMO
The Adheenam clarified, “We are proud about the role of the Adheenam in the Sengol ceremony of 1947. The group from the Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam went to Delhi on invitation, with the Sengol. There the Sengol was given to Mountbatten, taken back and purified by ganga jal abhishekham. Then it was handed over to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.”
It further continued, “When the question was posed by the Hindu if the Sengol was handed over to Mountbatten, the answer was that it was given to Pandit Nehru. This was clearly the case as the Sengol ended in Pandit Nehru’s hands.”
The religious organisation mentioned that the Sengol is explicitly acknowledged to have been presented to Mountbatten and then brought back for Ganga Jal Abhishekam in the recently released history of the Adheenam, under the chapter “Sengol Sirapu” and the Adheenam adheres to the published version of its record.
“In a related statement, Shri Masilamani Pillai who was the “Anukka Thondar” (or Personal Secretary) of the 20th Mahasannidhanam in Aug 1947, who is 96 years old, has clearly recalled the events recently, before the report by The Hindu. Shri Masilamani Pillai is a living witness from that time,” it added.
The group highlighted that he remembered that the Adheenam group succeeded in delivering the Sengol to Mountbatten before presenting it to Pandit Nehru. “Shri Masilamani Pillai clearly recalls that this was done at the initiative of Shri C Rajaji and that the Collector from Madras had visited the Adheenam in August 1947 to arrange for the Sengol.”
The Adheenam conveyed that the Math is extremely hurt by the ongoing attempts to malign it. “The Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam is deeply pained by the continuing efforts of some section of the media to discredit the Adheenam. There is no photograph of Mountbatten with the Sengol because the Adheenam people of that time did not go with cameras to take pictures.”
It informed, “They went about the task of presenting the Sengol which they completed successfully and reported to the Adheenam upon return.” It additionally proclaimed that the subsequent reports, including those in the media, had covered the development.
This is the second time The Hindu tried to question the history of the Sengol. Earlier on 25 May, before the Sengol was installed at the Parliament, it had published a report claiming that the Sengol was merely a gift from the Adheenam to India’s first PM, and it was not considered a symbol of the transfer of power on 15 August 1947. The Sengol had disappeared soon after that, and was recently found that it was lying at Anand Bhawan in Allahabad, the former residence of Nehru which has been converted to a museum.
Shockingly, the Sengol was mislabeled as a ‘golden walking stick gifted to Nehru.’
The Sengol was presented to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by the head priest of the Adheenam on May 27. It was then installed behind the chair of the Lok Sabha speaker in the new Parliament building on May 28 when it was inaugurated by the PM.
