1947 Transfer of Power
The transfer of power to India in 1947 marked the culmination of the Indian independence movement and the end of British occupation in the region.
As the historic event neared, India’s first Prime Minister in waiting, Jawaharlal Nehru was asked - What is the symbol that you have when you transfer power. Nehru did not know the answer and he asked another great leader and doyen of the freedom struggle C Rajagopalachari.
Rajaji, as he was better known, went to Kancheepuram Mahaperiyava for advice. Mahaperiyava said that Rajaji must go to the Thiruvaduthurai Atheenam since they were the Raja Gurus (similar to the head priest). It is only the Raja Gurus who can transfer power as per Hindu culture.
It was then decided that a new sceptre (राजदण्ड, செங்கோல், sengol) would be made to order by a jewelerjeweller Vummidi Bangaru Chetty in Chennai. Since the senior pontiff of the Thiruvaduthurai Atheenam was unwell, his junior pontiff was sent to Delhi to Lord Mountbatten to give him the sengol.
Mountbatten returned it to the Atheenam and the Atheenam purified the sengol with the Holy Ganga water. Reciting the Devaram composed by Gnanasambandar, a child saint, the Atheenam handed the sengol to Nehru as a ceremonious transfer of power on August 15, 1947. The last stanza in the Devaram says that it is the order of God that you shall rule perfectly.
More information about this can be found in the TIME magazine article INDIA: Oh Lovely Dawn published Aug. 25, 1947