A symbol of sovereignty
When India stood on the threshold of independence in 1947, Lord Mountbatten and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru sought a symbol to mark the transfer of power, something rooted in Indian tradition and Indian sovereignty.
The choice was the Sengol: a sacred sceptre of the Tamil tradition, the emblem of just and righteous rule. The word comes from the Tamil semmai, righteousness. For centuries it marked the passing of authority from one ruler to the next.
The Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam, the Saivite monastery that had kept the tradition, was asked to have the sceptre made. They entrusted the work to Vummidi Bangaru Chetty.
“The Sengol was never merely jewellery. It carried the hope of a new nation and the pride of an old tradition, and that weight was placed in our hands.”
A promise to every patron
We do not speak of the Sengol to boast. We speak of it because it set a bar this house has had to live with ever since.
An engagement ring, a bridal necklace, a piece commissioned as an heirloom: each is made with the seriousness that went into that one commission.
If the nation could trust us with its symbol, every patron may trust us with theirs.
Vummidi Nandagopal Sons, Chennai
The Sengol was one commission
Most of what we make will never stand in Parliament. It has a harder job: to hold up to a lifetime of being worn.