News Brief

It took Two Years Of Hard Work For Modi Govt To Verify, Find 'Sengol' Kept In Allahabad Museum As Nehru's 'Golden Walking Stick'

Swarajya StaffMay 27, 2023, 10:55 AM | Updated 12:19 PM IST
The Sengol with Nandi at top

The Sengol with Nandi at top


The Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Central government spent two years examining official records and media articles dating back to 1947, including a piece in Time magazine, to authenticate the importance of the ‘Sengol’ and the ‘Sengol Vesting Ceremony’ on the night of 14 August 1947, that symbolised the transfer of power to India.

The events were triggered by a article by S Gurumurthy in Thuglak magazine on 5 May 2021 that said the 'Sengol' was a symbol of Independence given to India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru by a Tamil pontiff.

Dr Padma Subrahmanyam, a noted classical dancer, sent an English translation version of the article to the Prime Minister's Office. She urged that the 'Sengol-vesting' ceremony, a significant, sacred, and historic event, has been hidden from public knowledge and history. She pleaded with the Modi Government to reveal this event on India's Independence Day in 2021.

The importance of the "Sengol" led the Prime Minister's Office and the Culture Ministry to search through past documents and media coverage for verification.

Information was gathered from newspapers, books by notable authors and the information from the internet regarding how the "Sengol" was presented to Nehru at his residence.

Nehru Memorial Museum and Library's Chairman, Nripendra Mishra, was requested to find if references or photos of the ceremony were available in the private papers at the museum, reports News18.


The 'Sengol' was finally found in the Allahabad Museum. It was categorised as Nehru's 'golden walking stick'. The 'Sengol' will now be placed in the new Parliament building in Delhi.

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