For the first time in the history of Parliament, the Sengol (sceptre), considered a symbol of power of monarchs, was added to the ceremonial procession welcoming the President to the House.
Rajeev Sharma, a senior marshal in the Lok Sabha, who was dressed in traditional attire with scarf and a turban, carried the Sengol in his hand and accompanied President Droupadi Murmu, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Speaker Om Birla during the parade.
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It was kept in front of the Speaker’s podium during the President’s Address to the Joint Session of Parliament.
Mr. Modi had installed the Sengol in the new Parliament building on the day of its inauguration.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said last year, before the inauguration of the new building, that on the night of August 14, 1947, India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, received the Sengol from the priests of the Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam in Tamil Nadu.
“It was precisely the moment in which power was transferred by the British into the hands of Indians. What we are celebrating as independence is actually marked by the very moment of handing over the ‘Sengol’,” Mr. Shah had said.
