scorecardresearch
Friday, March 29, 2024
Support Our Journalism
HomeIndiaPuja, ‘Sengol’, multi-faith prayer mark inauguration of new Parliament building by PM...

Puja, ‘Sengol’, multi-faith prayer mark inauguration of new Parliament building by PM Modi

The new Parliament can seat 888 members in the Lok Sabha, and 384 in the Rajya Sabha.

Follow Us :
Text Size:

New Delhi: A traditional puja with Vedic chanting, the installation of a “sengol”, and a multi-faith prayer started the inauguration of the new Parliament building Sunday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the new building at 7.30 in the morning and sat at a puja with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Once the puja ended, Modi prostrated himself before the “sengol” – a sceptre that was handed to India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru during a ceremony at his residence on 14 August, 1947. Nehru was handed the staff by pontiffs of Tamil Nadu’s Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam mutt as a symbol of just rule. Ever since, the staff has been kept at the Nehru Gallery of the Allahabad Museum.

The present seers of the Adheenam gave the “Sengol” to the Prime Minister, who sought their blessings.

Modi then carried the sceptre into the Lok Sabha chamber and installed it next to the Speaker’s chair. He also showered flower petals on it.

Modi then congratulated a group of construction workers before sitting down to listen to a multi-faith prayer session. The Prime Minister then unveiled a plaque and dedicated the new building to the nation.

Space crunch in the old building had prompted both Houses to adopt a resolution asking the government to build a new Parliament. Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed the ground-breaking ceremony in December, 2020.

The new Parliament can seat 888 members in the Lok Sabha to the previous building’s capacity of 543 members. The Rajya Sabha can seat 384 members, which is significantly more than the present 250 chairs.

The joint session of both Houses will be held in the Lok Sabha chamber.

More than 20 Opposition parties have boycotted the inauguration ceremony, accusing the BJP-led government of insulting President Droupadi Murmu by not inviting her to open the building.

In a joint statement four days ago, 19 parties said: “When the soul of democracy has been sucked out from Parliament, we find no value in a new building.” They said Parliament “cannot function” without the President, calling Modi’s leading role in the ceremony a “direct assault” on India’s democracy.

There was strict security in the national capital on Sunday morning as protesting wrestlers were determined to undertake a peaceful march to the new Parliament building and hold a “mahila mahapanchayat” before it.

Fronted by international wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik, many grapplers have squatted at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar for over a month now demanding the arrest of former wrestling body chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Seven women wrestlers, including a minor, have brought charges of sexual harassment against Singh.

As far as controversies go surrounding the inauguration, the “Sengol” had also become a flashpoint in the ongoing political and cultural battle between the government and the Opposition.

Unearthed from Tamil history, this “Sengol” apparently symbolised the transfer of power from Britain to India in 1947, according to the government. Union Home Minister Amit Shah then announced that this gold-plated staff would be taken out of the Allahabad Museum and installed in the Lok Sabha chamber.

The claim was that in the days leading to the Independence, India’ last Viceroy Lord Mountbatten asked Jawaharlal Nehru what would symbolise the power transfer. Statesman C. Rajagopalachari apparently advised Nehru to adopt the “Sengol” for the occasion, as it shouldered that duty in the days of South India’s Chera, Chola and Pandya dynasties centuries ago.

The Congress, however, called this claim “bogus”, saying there was no documented evidence” to support it. Rajagopalachari’s grandson and biographer Rajmohan Gandhi also said he had never heard of the freedom fighter’s “purported role” in the “Sengol” story.

The Prime Minister also unveiled a plaque and dedicated the new building to the nation.

In the second half of the function, the Prime Minister walked into the new Lok Sabha around noon with MPs and state chief ministers. Before that, he paid tribute to a portrait of Hindu ideologue V.D. Savarkar on his birthday.

The national anthem marked the formal inauguration of the four-storey triangular building which has a built-up area of 64,500 square metres. It has three main gates – Gyan Dwar, Shakti Dwar and Karma Dwar – and separate entrances for VIPs, MPs and visitors.

In his speech, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh said the day was an important milestone and a source of inspiration in the Amri Kaal. He also read out President Droupadi Murmu and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar’s messages to the dignitaries.

In his first speech in the new Parliament, Narendra Modi called the building a “temple of democracy” – not just a complex but the dreams and aspirations of 140 crore people.

He said 28 May, 2023 would be counted as a historic and immortal day in the journey of this nation. “This new building will realise the hopes of a developed India… When India develops, the world progresses… this building will call for the development of the world as well,” he said.


Also read: Why a historic ‘sengol’ is being installed in new Parliament building & how it was made 


 

Subscribe to our channels on YouTube, Telegram & WhatsApp

Support Our Journalism

India needs fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism, packed with on-ground reporting. ThePrint – with exceptional reporters, columnists and editors – is doing just that.

Sustaining this needs support from wonderful readers like you.

Whether you live in India or overseas, you can take a paid subscription by clicking here.

Support Our Journalism

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Most Popular