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When DMK Founder Annadurai Belittled The Historic Sengol And Insulted The Hindu Mutt That Gave It To Nehru

May 28, 2023
The Commune

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new Parliament building on 28 May 2023 and installed the historic Sengol in the chamber of Lok Sabha near the Speaker’s chair.

The Sengol was given to India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru moments before Indian independence by the Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam as a symbol of transfer of power.

This historic Sengol was languishing hitherto as Nehru’s “golden walking stick” in Anand Bhavan, the house museum in Prayagraj, which belongs to the Nehru family.

The Sengol has become a matter of contentious debate. If the Congress has been belittling and disputing its significance of the DMK insulted it by calling it as a symbol of monarchy.

But this is not the first time this historic Sengol was insulted by the DMK.

Just days after India’s independence, the founder of the DMK party C.N. Annadurai, had written an article tarnishing the Sengol and the Hindu mutt which gave it to Nehru. He was still with the rabid anti-Hindu and anti-India outfit Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) at that time.

The article titled ‘Sengol, Oru Vendukol‘ (Sceptre, A request) published on 24 August 1947 in his journal ‘Dravida Nadu’, Annadurai made scandalous remarks about the Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam questioning the intentions of the head of the Mutt in presenting the Sengol to Nehru on the eve of India’s independence.

“It is unexpected and unnecessary. It is not only unnecessary. If you think about the deep meaning behind it, it will be crystal clear that it is dangerous.”, he had written.

He pondered whether the Sengol was a gift, a donation, a share, or a licensing fee, to Nehru.

“We do not know what Pandithar (Nehru) thought about the Sengol or what letter the Adheenakarthar (Adheenam’s head) might have sent along with the Sengol.”, Annadurai said casting aspersions of vested interests against the Hindu Mutt.

Regarding the Sengol, Annadurai quipped saying it was not an ordinary piece of iron that was transformed into gold through the power of holy ash, likening it to the mythical transformation of foxes into horses by a Lord Shiva devotee Manickavasagar.

Annadurai also advised Nehru saying he must be well aware that kings and nobles, who were fattened by the labour of the subjects and possessed golden forts, used religion as a means to consolidate their power.

Annadurai urged Nehru to abandon such practices in order to pave the way for the “flourishing of democracy”.

He said that the heads of the Mutts, fearing Nehru’s potential implementation of these principles, would not only present a golden sceptre but even one embedded with precious gems to protect themselves, thereby derogating the Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam.

He accused the head of the Mutt of appropriating the labor of others and deemed it inappropriate to refer to it as a Sengol.

Annadurai further alleged that the head of the Mutt aimed to gain favor with Nehru, using the gift to convey a close relationship with the new government and maintain influence over the people.

He said that the gold represented only a fraction of the wealth possessed by a saint who had renounced worldly affairs, adding that the working class was left toiling in the Mutt’s fertile paddy fields that could yield crops more valuable than the precious gems.

The DMK founder proposed the idea of seizing the mutt saying if the government were to confiscate the wealth of the Mutt and utilize it to improve the living conditions of the people, the Sengol would cease to be a mere decorative object and instead uplift the lives of the populace.

This piece written by Annadurai was republished in Murasoli on 26 May 2023.

Chairman of The Hindu publishing group N. Ram had shared the Murasoli article calling it a “contemporaneous satire”.

The article was also paraphrased and republished by The Hindu in English on the eve of the new Parliament building inauguration which was shared by many Congress leaders like Jairam Ramesh, Lakshmi Ramachandran, etc.

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