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The Tamil Nadu government, on the night of Thursday, December 4, moved the Supreme Court challenging a Madras High Court order that allowed petitioners to visit Thiruparankundram Hill and light the Deepam at the Deepathoon near the Dargah. This move comes hours after Madras High Court judge Justice GR Swaminathan issued a fresh order allowing petitioners to light the lamp in the hill.
As part of the contempt proceedings Justice GR Swaminathan quashed prohibitory orders imposed by the district collector in Thiruparankundram and had directed Madurai Commissioner of police to provide fullest protection to the petitioners to allow them to light the lamp at the Deepathoon. The judge had warned of consequences if the order was not enforced on the same day. Justice GR Swaminathan is expected to hear the contempt petition at 10.30 am on Friday, December 5.
Thiruparankundram Hill in Madurai houses the Arulmigu Subramania Swamy Temple at its base and the Sikkandar Badhusha Dargah at the summit.
As of December 4, despite multiple petitions, protests and ongoing contempt proceedings, Hindutva activists were unable to light the Karthigai Deepam at the Deepathoon on Thiruparankundram Hill this year.
Earlier that day, the petitioners in the case – Rama Ravikumar and others – were stopped by the police from proceeding to the hill, with officers citing the State government’s decision to approach the Supreme Court.
Tensions escalated at the base of the hill when BJP state president Nainar Nagendran, senior leader H Raja, and other Sangh Parivar activists attempted to proceed toward the hill, invoking the High Court order. Police prevented them from crossing the barricades and took them into preventive custody.
Members of Hindutva outfits argued with the police and staged a protest, raising slogans against the ruling DMK government and the police.
Karthigai, a Tamil month associated with the festival of Karthigai Deepam, symbolises light, devotion, and the triumph of knowledge over darkness. The festival is marked by lighting lamps in households and temples.
For many years, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment department officials have been lighting the lamp at the ‘Deepa Mandapam’ near the Uchipillaiyar temple, which is located near the Murugan temple.
However, Hindutva groups have been demanding that the lamp should be lit near the Deepathoon, which lies next to the dargah. This year however, the court allowed the lamp to be lit at Deepathoon.
Earlier on December 4, a Division Bench of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court dismissed a Letters Patent Appeal (intra-court appeal filed before a Division Bench to challenge an order passed by a single judge) filed by the Madurai District Collector and the Commissioner of Police. The appeal challenged Justice GR Swaminathan’s order that allowed the petitioner to light the Karthigai Deepam at the Deepathoon with Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) protection. The Bench held that the judge’s order giving CISF protection was a necessary measure as the temple administration failed to comply with earlier court directions.
Rejecting the State’s objections that the contempt petition was premature and that CISF could not be deployed, the Division Bench said the order fell within the scope of the main writ and observed that central forces could be used when State police refused protection. The judges also questioned the timing of the prohibitory order passed under Section 163 of the BNSS on the evening of December 3 and noted that it carried an exemption for religious ceremonies.
The Madurai police had issued prohibitory orders as Hindutva activists gathered near the hill.
How the issue flared up
The latest row over the antiquity of the hill began earlier this year following objections related to alleged animal sacrifice near the hill, which later expanded into a wider dispute over religious practices at the site.
The dispute is part of a long-standing conflict over religious practices and land rights on Thiruparankundram Hill, which houses both the Arulmigu Subramania Swamy Temple and the Sikkandar Badhusha Dargah. The controversy intensified on December 3 after temple authorities attempted to restrict the Deepam to the Uchipillaiyar Temple area alone, triggering protests, clashes and the imposition of prohibitory orders.