There are objects that outlive the hands that shape them. They carry memory, meaning, and power. The sengol, a ceremonial sceptre rooted in Tamil tradition once used to mark the transfer of power between rulers, is one such object. 

In August 1947, as India stood on the cusp of independence, it was ceremonially presented to India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru by priests of the Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam, a centuries-old Saivite monastery, reviving a Chola-era ritual to symbolise the transfer of power. The sceptre itself was crafted in Madras by the family behind Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers (VBJ), embedding, within its form, a legacy of craftsmanship that would, for decades, remain largely unspoken.