Madras HC trashes TN’s ‘fears’, upholds order to light deepam atop Thiruparankundram hill

MADURAI: Trashing Tamil Nadu govt’s apprehension about disturbance to public peace as an ‘imaginary ghost’, Madras high court on Tuesday upheld a single judge’s order directing the Subramaniya Swamy Temple management to light Karthigai deepam at deepathoon (stone pillar) on a Thiruparankundram hill peak, apart from the other usual places.The devasthanam must light the lamp during the Karthigai festival through their team, a division bench of Justice G Jayachandran and Justice K K Ramakrishnan said, adding that no members of the public shall be allowed to accompany the devasthanam team and the number of the team members has to be decided in consultation with the ASI and police. The collector shall coordinate and supervise the event. “We hope, by implementing the above directions, which can be suitably modified whenever a festival of the respective community falls, then there will be only light and not any fight,” the judges said.The judges disposed of a batch of appeals, including those by the Madurai collector, executive officer of the temple, Madurai city commissioner of police, HR and CE department, Sikandar Badusha Dargah and Tamil Nadu Wakf Board, challenging the order of the single judge dated Dec 1, 2025.As for the govt’s apprehension of law and order disturbances, the judges said: “It is ridiculous and hard to believe the fear of the mighty state that by allowing representatives of the devasthanam to light the lamp at the stone pillar near the top of the hill located within its territory of devasthanam land, on a particular day in a year, will cause disturbance to public peace. Of course, it may happen only if such disturbance is sponsored by the state itself. We pray no state should stoop to that level to achieve their political agenda.”Such a fear “is nothing but an ‘imaginary ghost’ created by them for their convenience’s sake and to pit one community against another community under suspicion and constant mistrust, the judges said.“By allowing a few persons from devasthanam to the pillar for lighting the lamp and keeping the devotees stay at the foothill and worship is not an unmanageable task. Projecting as if such a congregation will cause disturbance to peace, stampede, disharmony among communities etc., is either exposure of their incapacity to maintain law and order or hesitant to bring harmony among the communities,” the judges observed.As for the contention of the govt and the devasthanam that the present place of lighting the deepam is in tune with Agama Sastra since it fell straight on the top of the sanctum sanctorum, the judges said it is not a correct reasoning. “We are also bound to record that the place at which presently the devasthanam is lighting the deepam, is called as Uchi Pillayar Temple. Admittedly, that place is not the Uchi (top of the hill) nor there is any Pillaiyar idol,” the judges said.The court said the appellants failed to produce formidable evidence to show that Agama Sastra of Saivites prohibited lighting lamp at a place which is not straight on top of the deity in the sanctum sanctorum.The location of the pillar is in the portion of the hill declared by a competent civil court as property of the devasthanam, it said, adding that the wakf board, as on date, has no locus in the matter.“For the first time, in the course of argument in the appeals on behalf of the wakf a mischievous submission was made that the lamp pillar belongs to the dargah,” the judges said.“We must also place on record that at the time of hearing the appeals, we thought that it is not late to explore the possibility of amicable settlement through mediation. However, as the arguments proceeded, slowly we realised the interlopers, fence sitters and onlookers outside the ring are waiting to play the spoil game, since they gain as long as the animosity among the two communities continues,” the judges observed.