Thirupparankundram row: when politics invades a syncretic hill town

Thirupparankundram, a sanction that is connected the lips of immoderate Murugan devotee, is present ringing crossed the nation. Foremost among the six locations successful Tamil Nadu – known arsenic Aaru Padai Veedu – deemed arsenic abodes of Lord Murugan, Thirupparankundram successful Madurai metropolis has been known chiefly arsenic a temple town, quaint and attracting devotees successful droves.

Notably, determination is affluent religious fusion and syncretism connected the Thirupparankundram hill, wherever – too the Subramaniya Swamy Temple – the Kasi Viswanathar Temple, the Sikandar Badusha Dargah, and besides immoderate past Jain beds are located.

In caller months, however, it has recovered itself successful a maelstrom of ineligible battles and aggravated ideological sparring. Though Thirupparankundram is nary alien to litigation – the archetypal suit being filed arsenic aboriginal arsenic 1920 – this time, a petition to airy a lamp connected a pillar connected the elevation during the Karthigai Deepam festival is the root of the conflagration. The crisis, this time, besides had links to the past of the litigation, which hinged connected the ownership of the Thirupparankundram hill, the contention arising betwixt the temple and the dargah located there. Significantly, a Privy Council successful London had ruled that the elevation would beryllium vested with the temple, and astatine the aforesaid time, it had protected the dargah and the entree steps to it.

Petition connected the deepathoon

In November 2025, petitions were filed successful the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, seeking a absorption to the temple absorption to airy a deepam, connected the juncture of the Karthigai Deepam festival, connected a pillar connected 1 of the 2 peaks of the Thirupparankundram hill. The petitioners called the pillar a deepathoon, meaning a pillar connected which the lamp would beryllium lit.

The State authorities had argued against it, citing law-and-order concerns, the beingness of a dargah astatine the hillock, and a deficiency of grounds that the chromatic pillar was meant to airy the Karthigai Deepam.

Justice G.R. Swaminathan’s order, successful December 2025, was successful favour of the petitioner’s plea, that the deepam beryllium lit upon the pillar. He said that successful the Original Suit of 1920, the proceedings justice recognised that the deepathoon was not an occupied information of Muslims, though the dargah is astatine a higher level and the Lord Subramaniya Swamy temple, astatine the basal of the hillock. The Privy Council had held that the unoccupied portions of the elevation belonged to the Hindus.

Justice Swaminathan said: “It is, therefore, indispensable that the temple absorption remains vigilant to foil immoderate effort to encroach connected its property. This tin beryllium done lone by regular and periodic assertion of title. It is not a substance of spiritual contented alone. At slightest for the involvement of protecting its property, the temple absorption is obliged to airy the festival lamp astatine the deepathoon.” He directed the absorption of the Subramaniya Swamy Temple to airy the Karthigai Deepam astatine the deepathoon, too astatine the accustomed places connected December 3.

However, since nary arrangements were made by the authorities to facilitate this, the petitioners filed a contempt petition. The justice took a grim presumption of the information that the temple absorption lit the deepam astatine the Uchi Pillaiyar temple and not astatine the deepathoon, arsenic directed by him. The justice past permitted the archetypal petitioner to instrumentality 10 others on with him, including the different petitioners, spell up the hill, and airy the deepam astatine the deepathoon, with extortion provided to them by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel.

Denial of permission

However, precocious play followed that evening, arsenic a ample posse of constabulary unit denied them permission to spell up the hill, citing the prohibitory orders clamped by the Madurai territory medication nether Section 163 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). Pro-Hindu outfits staged a demonstration, condemning the denial of permission.

Justice Swaminathan erstwhile again directed that the bid beryllium complied with. However, yet again, the State authorities continued to contradict support to airy the deepam, citing that an entreaty had been preferred against the verdict. On December 9, the justice summoned the Chief Secretary and Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) to look earlier the tribunal via video conferencing. On December 17, Justice Swaminathan, portion proceeding the contempt petition, said government officials cannot mention instrumentality and order to flout tribunal orders. The justice said that would beryllium inexcusable, magnitude to breakdown of instrumentality and order, and pb to paralysis of the law machinery.

Meanwhile, connected December 12, a Division Bench of Justices G. Jayachandran and K.K. Ramakrishnan agreed to perceive the appeals preferred against the Single Bench order, including that filed by the State government.

On January 6, 2026, they upheld the Single Bench order that directed the Subramaniya Swamy Temple absorption to airy the Karthigai Deepam astatine a chromatic pillar, identified arsenic the deepathoon, atop the Thirupparankundram hill. The tribunal dismissed the government’s fears of nationalist disturbance arsenic an “imaginary ghost” and said it would lone hap if sponsored by the State itself. The tribunal criticised the State authorities for citing its apprehension of instrumentality and bid issues and nationalist bid arsenic a crushed for not complying with the erstwhile order.

The judges said: “It is ridiculous and hard to judge the fearfulness of the mighty State that by allowing representatives of the Devasthanam to airy the lamp astatine the chromatic pillar adjacent the apical of the elevation located wrong its territory of Devasthanam land, connected a peculiar time successful a year, volition origin disturbance to nationalist peace. Of course, it whitethorn hap lone if specified a disturbance is sponsored by the State itself. We commune nary State should stoop to that level to execute their governmental agenda.”

Being astatine a vantage point, the deepathoon, which is connected a antithetic stone acme and lies little than the highest connected which the dargah is located, is the perfect spot to airy the deepam. Religious practices ever transportation a purpose. The signifier of lighting a deepam astatine an elevated spot during the Karthigai Deepam festival and different festivals is for the devotees astatine the foothills and the surrounding areas to spot it and worship, the judges added.

While disposing of the appeals, the judges said the deepathoon is located connected the information of the elevation declared by a competent civilian tribunal arsenic the spot of the Devasthanam. The Madras High Court, successful its bid connected a petition filed successful 1994, had fixed liberty to the worshippers to question a alteration of spot for lighting the deepam astatine immoderate different portion of the elevation owned by the Devasthanam, with a regularisation of 15 metres from the dargah property.

They held that the issue, which has undergone judicial scrutiny successful antithetic forms implicit the past 100 years, needs to beryllium resolved to support comity alternatively of keeping the occurrence live adjacent without lighting the lamp. The State authorities has said it volition appeal against the verdict earlier the Supreme Court.

Santhanakoodu festival

In different development, determination was a litigation pertaining to a ritual of the dargah located atop the hill. The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, connected January 2, directed the authorities of Hazrat Sultan Sikandar Badusha Dargah to behaviour lone the Santhanakoodu Urus festival – and not the Kandhoori festival, different Islamic observance – and restrict the full fig of participants to 50. The tribunal restrained the dargah authorities from carrying retired carnal sacrifice, carrying nutrient and non-vegetarian food, and cooking non-vegetarian nutrient arsenic portion of the festival. The State authorities submitted that support would beryllium granted lone for the Santhanakoodu festival.

Impeachment proposal

The play surrounding the Thirupparankundram lawsuit was not restricted to the courts, oregon the roads starring up to the elevation and the contested chromatic pillar. Even arsenic the substance was pending, 107 MPs of the INDIA bloc connected December 9, submitted a missive to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to determination an impeachment question successful Parliament against Justice Swaminathan. However, this determination was met with disapproval from different groups, including erstwhile judges, parliamentarians, and elder advocates, who said it was thing but a nonstop effort to destabilise the judiciary successful the country.

Past and caller history

Earlier successful 2025, a Division Bench of Justices J. Nisha Banu and S. Srimathy, proceeding petitions which sought directions that included prevention of carnal sacrifice, proviso of civic amenities, and restoration and attraction of the elevation arsenic a tract of nationalist importance, took antithetic views connected the matter. There was a divided verdict.

In the judgement pronounced connected June 24, Justice Nisha Banu, referring to the Original Suit of 1920 and the judgement demarcating the information belonging to the temple and the dargah, affirmed that the full of the Thirupparankundram hill, but 33 cents, belonged to Lord Murugan. The civilian tribunal had not lone recognised the rights of some parties with respect to the places of worship connected the elevation but besides had defined the rights of each of them.

Since the substance had attained finality during the earlier years of the past century, the justice held it was not inclined to interfere with the same, truthful arsenic to sphere interfaith bid and amity, safeguarde secular coexistence, and uphold the tone of spiritual tolerance and unity among the people.

On the contented of carnal sacrifice, the justice said fixed that ritualistic carnal sacrifices were traditionally performed successful respective Hindu temples crossed Madurai region, a broad prohibition would magnitude to discriminatory enforcement. The justice said determination was nary statutory barroom against the accepted signifier of carnal sacrifice astatine spiritual places successful Tamil Nadu.

However, successful her verdict, Justice Srimathy said it was the assertion of the dargah that the Kandhoori festival, wherever a signifier of carnal sacrifice is involved, was being conducted for a agelong time. However, the temple and the petitioners claimed that nary specified happening was being practised, and demanded grounds for the same. The justice directed the dargah to attack the Civil Court to found their signifier of carnal sacrifice during Kandhoori festival, but allowed the dargah to behaviour the Santhanakodu festival, wherever nary carnal sacrifice is involved.

Because it was a divided verdict, the lawsuit was placed earlier the Chief Justice for due orders. Justice R. Vijayakumar was named the tie-breaker justice to determine the issue. On October 10, 2025, he concurred with Justice Srimathy. Further, referring to notifications issued by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) declaring astir the full elevation arsenic a protected monument and arsenic per Rule 8(g) of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Rules 1959, bringing immoderate carnal for immoderate intent different than attraction of monuments is prohibited and arsenic per Rule 8(c), cooking oregon consuming of nutrient is besides prohibited but wherever it is permitted specifically, the justice held that determination was a statutory barroom against the signifier of carnal sacrifice connected the hill.