The Madras High Court, on Friday, January 2, directed that no animal sacrifice be carried out at the Thiruparankundram Sultan Sikandar Badusha Auliya Dargah during the Santhanakoodu Urus festival scheduled for January 6. The court also limited participation in the festival to 50 persons. The Santhanakoodu festival at the Dargah began on December 12 amid opposition from Hindutva organisations.
Santhanakoodu is a ritual performed at Sufi dargahs involving the ceremonial preparation and offering of sandalwood paste, usually as part of the annual Urus, which marks a Sufi saint’s death anniversary..
The Thiruparankundram hill has been at the centre of controversy since January 2025, after animal sacrifice was banned at the sufi shrine. In December 2025, an order by Justice GR Swaminathan of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court directed the lighting of the Karthigai Deepam ceremonial lamp at a disputed stone pillar atop the hill, near the Dargah. The order led to a standoff between the district administration and Hindutva activists after authorities halted the lighting, citing concerns over violence and potential unrest.
Justice S Srimathy issued the present directions while hearing a petition filed by M Manickamoorthy, who sought a ban on animal sacrifice during the festival.
R Baskaran, Additional Advocate General, appearing for the district administration, submitted that permission had been granted in 2023 for the Urus festival, but not for the Kandhoori festival, which involves ritual animal sacrifice. He added that the administration had consistently prohibited animal sacrifice and the cooking of non-vegetarian food on the hill.
In October 2024, Justice GR Vijayakumar of the Madurai Bench had ruled that animal sacrifice would not be permitted on the hill, following a split verdict by Justices Srimathy and J Nisha Banu. Justice Srimathy had held that the Dargah administration must establish before a civil court that animal sacrifice was an established and customary practice at the shrine.
“The managing trustee of the Hazrat Sultan Sikandar Badusha Dargah is restrained from carrying out animal sacrifice and from bringing animal meat, cooking non-vegetarian food, or carrying any non-vegetarian items. These directions shall be enforced from the foothills to the top of the hill, and the official respondents shall strictly implement them,” the court ordered.
The Santhanakoodu festival is scheduled to conclude on January 6.