On 28 May 2023 Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new Parliament building and placed the historic and sacred golden sceptre ‘Sengol’ near the Lok Sabha Speaker’s chair.

When compared to the former Parliament building, the new complex is significantly larger with magnificent features.

The new Parliament building, which replaced the old circular structure, is triangular in design and stands directly opposite the 90-year-old complex that housed both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

The new Parliament building not only fits modern standards, but also demonstrates the breadth and depth of Indian culture and civilisation.

As India transitions from the darkness of the colonial past to the light of Sanatana Dharma, here’s the civilizational importance of the new Indian Parliament.

The Vaastu Shastra Behind The Design

The guiding concepts for the roughly 5,000 works of art (paintings, ornamental art, wall panels, stone sculptures, and metal objects) displayed across 65,000 metres of space at the new Parliament building are Sanatana Parampara and Vaastu Shastra.

If the previous Parliament House guided post-independence India, the new structure would bear testimony to the birth of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat.’

Credits to the Ahmedabad-based HCP Designs, this modern temple of democracy incorporates Indian elements and showcases India as a rising power.

The new Parliament building is triangular in shape and is built right next to the existing Parliament House.

The triangular (actually hexagonal) shape was chosen because of the “sacred geometrics” of the shape.

The head of HCP Designs Bimal Patel had said that, “Many sacred geometrics celebrate ‘triangles’ and ‘trinities – The Sri Yantra uses a triangle, the three Gods or the Trinities are a triangle and therefore the triangle is sacred.”

Besides these, the new building’s six entrances exhibit guardian statues showing auspicious animals.

These “auspicious animals” have been chosen based on their importance in Indian culture, Vaastu shastra and traits such as wisdom, victory, power, and success.

Each animal chosen to be installed in the building possesses a set of affirmations, spreading well-being and harmony.

Guarding the ceremonial entrance to the north is the gaja (elephant), which represents wisdom, wealth, intellect, and memory.

According to Vaastu Shastra, the northern direction is associated with Mercury, which is the source of higher intellect.

Standing alert and ready at the southern entrance is the ashva (horse), which is symbolic of endurance, strength, power, and speed, describing the quality of governance.

Soaring at the eastern entrance is the garuda (eagle), which symbolises the aspirations of the people.

In Vaastu shastra, the east is associated with the rising sun, representing victory.

The north-eastern entrance has hamsa (swan), which represents discernment and wisdom.

The remaining entrances showcase the makara (a mythical aquatic creature that is a combination of the body parts of different animals), which represents unity in diversity, and the shardula (a mythical animal that is said to be the most powerful of all living beings), which symbolises the power of the people of the country.

The underlying narrative is to highlight “5,000 years of Indian civilisation”. 

An official vision document entailing the objectives of artwork at the building, that was reviewed by The Indian Express, states: “The artworks and its installation represent sanatan parampara that continued over thousands of years. Along with that, the overall theme is designed keeping in mind the study of Vaastu shastra and maintaining the character of the building.” While sanatan parampara broadly refers to Hindu culture, which is believed to have been in continuity for centuries, Vaastu shastra is the traditional Indian system of architecture based on ancient texts that describe principles of design, layout, measurements, space arrangement and spatial geometry. 

Celebrating Civilizational Ethos

The sacred Sengol was installed next to the Speaker’s chair at the Lok Sabha House on the day of the inauguration. PM Modi entered the Lok Sabha house while carrying the Sengol, amid Vedic chants by high priests of several devotees (maths) in Tamil Nadu and sounds from ‘nadaswaram.’ PM Modi began the event by offering Sengol, a Sashtang Pranam. Every Indian will remember the video of him entering the house and then installing Sengol for the rest of their lives. It represents the rich culture of India. Sengol was regarded as a symbol of the road of service, loyalty, and nation in different ancient Hindu kingdoms. The Sengol became the sacred emblem of power transfer under the direction of Rajaji and Adheenam. This Sengol will continue to inspire us during the House procedures. 

Another feature of the new Parliament House that has been a talking point is the Samudra Manthan sculpture, which is situated along one of the building’s walls. Created by Murtikar Naresh Kumawat, the sculpture depicts the historic story of churning the milk sea. As the story goes, thousands of years ago, Devtas and Daanavs joined hands to churn the sea with the hope to get Amrit and other precious items. The scene depicts how the event took place. 

A dedicated display depicting the ‘Akhand Bharat’ in its true form is also present inside the New Parliament Building. The display has an old sculpture, a stone with ancient scriptures, and an old map of Bharat with regions mentioned by their historic names. You can see Kurukshetra, Hastinapur, Sindhu, Sauveer, Saurashtra, Dakshinapath, Amravati, Sidhpur, Chol, Kanchipuram, Keralputr and other regions written in Devnagri script. Along with the above mentioned, other sculptures in the new Parliament includes Chanakya- The father of political science, Hand Mudras- Representing the depth of Indian , and more. 

The new Parliament also serves as a symbol of Aatmanirbharata (self-reliance). India’s ‘Temple of Democracy’, the building is constructed using materials from all over the country, representing the diversity of India. The teak wood for the building was sourced from Nagpur, Maharashtra. The sandstone was procured from Sarmathura, Rajasthan. The carpets were imported from Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh. The bamboo wood flooring was from Agartala, Tripura. The stone jali works were obtained from Rajnagar, Rajasthan and Noida. The Ashoka Emblem was sourced from Aurangabad and Jaipur, while   Ashok Chakra was from Madhya Pradesh’s Indore. Some furniture was procured from Mumbai. The Lakha Red was got from Lakha in Jaisalmer, while the Ambaji White Marble was from Ambaji, Rajasthan. The Kesharia Green Stone was procured from Udaipur. The stone carving work was obtained from Abu Road and Udaipur, and the stone aggregate from Kotputali, Rajasthan.

The new Parliament building is thus not only a testament to India’s unity and diversity but also a symbol of the country’s commitment to democracy and its vision for the future.

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The post From Sengol To Chanakya And Samudra Manthana, The New Parliament Boasts The Epic Journey Of Indian Civilization appeared first on The Commune.

In a press conference held by Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri on the Central Vista project said he objects to the statements that were made in an open letter by former bureaucrats last year that has been making rounds on social media platforms.

“This project began, if reports are to be believed, because of a superstitious belief that the present Parliament building is ‘unlucky’”

How someone can put their signature on this bizarre letter defies logic! pic.twitter.com/bdsUfnM1za

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) May 31, 2021

In the statement, the bureaucrats had said, “There is a great deal wrong with the conceptualization of the project. Rather than establishing the necessity of the project with sound prior studies on environmental and technical parameters, this project began, if reports are to be believed, because of a superstitious belief that the present Parliament building is ‘unlucky’, as well as with the thought of leaving a particular government and its leader’s impress on the architecture of Delhi.”

Puri called the bureaucrats educated fools and said, “These are not educated fools but a disgrace to the country. I will not put my signatures on a letter that talks about superstitious belief.”

He went on to say that the need for the new parliament was made by the Congress government in 2012 and the old parliament lacks facilities and lack of space for the members. He said, “The parliament was designed for fewer people. We are making a bigger parliament building for the people of India.” He further said, “I think some of these guys need to have their head examined before they sign letters like this.”

Puri then excoriated the people who wrote this letter making rounds in the social media and said,  “I do not know what agenda they have but they need to get their facts right.”

He talked about the false narrative being created and propagated around the Central Vista project and was aghast with the accusation that this was a vanity project. He also made it very clear that none of the heritage buildings would be touched.

The new parliament building will be ready as India celebrates the 75th anniversary of Independence in 2022. The estimated cost of the new parliament building is Rs 852 crores and the estimated cost of Central Vista avenue is Rs 477 crore.

Puri said that in 2012, it was the UPA government that had decided to build a new parliament and quoted Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, then-Union Minister for Rural Development who had said, “We badly need a new parliament building. This one simply isn’t functional and is outdated.” 

It must be noted that the Delhi High Court had dismissed a PIL filed against the Central Vista project and called it a “motivated plea” and imposed a fine on the petitioners Anya Malhotra and Sohail Hashmi for wasting the court’s time in frivolous petitions.

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As India is fighting the Wuhan Virus together, screenshots of what is being alleged as a “toolkit” of the Congress party were exposed by various BJP leaders on Tuesday (18 May).

The Congress party led by the Gandhi family according to this toolkit has adopted various underhanded techniques to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP led central government during a time of great difficultly.

The document titled ‘Cornering Narendra Modi & Covid Mismanagement’ begins by highlighting how the ‘Kumbh mela’ is to be used to malign the Hindu festival while calling Eid as a ‘happy gathering’.  The “toolkit” suggests politicizing the congregation by repeatedly labeling it as a ‘super spreader’.

The toolkit created alleged by the AICC states “Use the phrase Indian Strain whenever talking of new mutant. Social Media volunteers can call it Modi Strain,“.

It also gives instructions to ‘dismantle the image of Modi’ by ‘targeting Gujarat’ and by using ‘dramatic pictures of dead bodies and cremation’.   

It also says how international media can be used to attack PM Modi and also using ‘liberal intellectuals’ to attack PM CARES’.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has attributed this “toolkit” to the All India Congress Committee (AICC) Research Department.

However, Congress has denied any involvement and has called the “toolkit” dated May 2021 a “forgery”. It has said that it will file FIRs against BJP president J P Nadda and spokesperson Sambit Patra.

The Chairman of the AICC Research Department Rajeev Gowda called the “toolkit” is fake and in a tweet said, “BJP is propagating a fake “toolkit” on “COVID-19 mismanagement” and attributing it to AICC Research Department. We are filing an FIR for forgery against J P Nadda and Sambit Patra. When our country is devastated by COVID, instead of providing relief, BJP shamelessly concocts forgeries,”.

BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra in a tweet said, “Disgusting to say the least ..Rahul Gandhi wanting to use this opportunity of Pandemic to destroy the image of PM Modi. Congress workers instructed to call the mutant strain as “Modi strain” No stone left unturned to scar the name of India with the help of Foreign Journalists!!”.

Disgusting to say the least ..Rahul Gandhi wanting to use this opportunity of Pandemic to destroy the image of PM Modi.
Congress workers instructed to call the mutant strain as “Modi strain”
No stone left unturned to scar the name of India with the help of Foreign Journalists!! pic.twitter.com/i1ykMB00MA

— Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) May 18, 2021

When country was in the midst of a health crisis & every single unit of society from an individual to administration were rising up to the challenge , here was @INCIndia spreading fake , negative news & stirring up discontent . Disgusting . #CongressToolkitExposed pic.twitter.com/L5OWbIAvHN

— B L Santhosh (@blsanthosh) May 18, 2021

The toolkit has the Congress symbol (watermark) on the top right corner of each shared page, and has instruction to use dramatic photographs of funerals and dead bodies as made famous by left journalist Barkha Dutt and Rana Ayub and says that such journalists can be facilitated by the local Congress cadre.

One of the screenshots shared by Patra states that it is important to work with “friendly journalists” to malign the BJP on social media and all effort must be made to amplify requests for Covid related help and response should only be made if the Indian Youth Congress’ handle is tagged.

The toolkit also contains instructions for journalists and social media influencers who should give top priority.

Also, on crosshairs in this toolkit is the systematic criticism of the Central Vista Project which incidentally the Congress party had proposed in 2012.

The term “toolkit” became famous after environmental activists Greta Thunberg on social media released a set of instructions on how to agitate and protests against the government during the height of the farmer’s protests which many experts believe led to the second wave of the Wuhan virus in Delhi and other parts of India. 

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