Vummidi Ethiraj, Craftsman of the Historic Sengol, Passes Away

Thiru Vummidi Ethiraj, the craftsman remembered for his part in making the Sengol that was handed to the country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, has died. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed deep sorrow at the news and said the artisan, who belonged to a well-known family of Tamil Nadu, would always be remembered for the work he put into that historic sceptre.

What the Prime Minister said

In a message shared on the social media platform X, the Prime Minister wrote that he was deeply pained by the passing. He recalled that many years after the Sengol was made, in 2023, his government had the honour of giving the sceptre a place of pride in the new Parliament building. Around that time he had the chance to meet Thiru Vummidi Ethiraj in person and to thank him for what he had given to the nation and to its culture. The life and the craft of the artisan, the Prime Minister said, stand for a remarkable link between India's proud traditions and the journey the nation has travelled. He offered his condolences to the family and to the admirers of the departed craftsman and closed his message with the words Om Shanti.

The Sengol and its place today

The Sengol is the ceremonial sceptre that was presented to Jawaharlal Nehru and that the government installed in the new Parliament building in 2023, where it now stands as a mark of the country's heritage. The craftsmen who shaped it came from Tamil Nadu, and the object is therefore read as a thread running from the traditions of the south into the modern national story, exactly the connection the Prime Minister drew in his message.

For the exam

Questions on current affairs often pair a person in the news with the object, institution or event that made the person known. Here the pairing to hold on to is simple: Thiru Vummidi Ethiraj, Tamil Nadu, the Sengol, Jawaharlal Nehru and the new Parliament building of 2023.