A young man identified as Pooranachandran died by self-immolation on Thursday (18 December 2025) in Madurai, with his friend stating that the act was linked to the ongoing dispute over the lighting of the Karthigai Deepam at Thirupparankundram.
According to the account given by the deceased’s friend, Pooranachandran sent a voice message at around 3.26 PM shortly before his death. The friend said that after listening to the message, he immediately tried to contact him, but the call was answered by people at a police station, who asked him to come there without initially explaining what had happened.
The friend said that upon reaching the police station and making enquiries, he was informed about the manner of Pooranachandran’s death. He was later taken to the mortuary, where the body was shown to him.
He stated that police officials explained that Pooranachandran had set himself on fire in protest against the authorities’ refusal to allow the lighting of the Thirupparankundram deepam, despite orders of the Madras High Court. According to the friend, Pooranachandran allegedly carried out the act near a Periyar statue, stating that since it was claimed that “there is no deity here,” he would “light himself as the lamp.”
The friend said the audio message was sent at 3.26 PM to four or five people and that the incident occurred shortly thereafter, around 3.30 pm. He added that everyone who was present at the location had since given their statements to the police.
When asked about the sequence of events, the friend said police told him that Pooranachandran had gone inside a room, shut the door from within, poured petrol on himself and then set himself on fire.
He also said that Pooranachandran had never previously spoken to him about taking such a step. “Till now, he had never spoken about anything like this. He hadn’t told me any such information,” he said.
Clarifying his relationship with the deceased, the friend said Pooranachandran was a close friend and not a relative. He also said Pooranachandran was not associated with any political party or organisation.
“He was not in any party at all,” he said, adding that Pooranachandran was a deeply spiritual person and a devotee of Lord Shiva. He said that Pooranachandran regularly visited the Sadhuragiri Mahalingam temple on every Amavasya and was devoted to religious practices.
The friend further recalled that even on the day of the incident, while travelling with him by car, Pooranachandran had been continuously singing the ‘Kanda Sashti Kavasam’. “At that time, we did not understand anything unusual. Only after this incident did the meaning of what he sang become clear to us,” he said.
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“In this very government’s tenure, we will definitely light the deepam. Above the High Court there is no one greater — no collector, no commissioner, no police officer,” another friend said, adding that the issue was one of faith and ancestral belief. He stated that for the original Tamil residents of Madurai, Lord Murugan was the ancestral deity and that denying the lighting of the lamp on Murugan’s hill had driven Pooranachandran to sacrifice his life.
The speaker further quoted Pooranachandran as saying that he had consciously chosen not to die on the Thirupparankundram hill itself. According to him, Pooranachandran believed that dying on the hill could affect the sanctity of the temple and therefore decided to immolate himself elsewhere to make a statement.
“He said, ‘If I die there, the sanctity of that sacred hill might be spoiled. That is why, in front of the statue of the one who said there is no god, I will commit suicide and prove that a man has given up his life for God,’” the friend said.
The speaker asserted that the death would not be in vain and claimed that it would lead to large-scale mobilisation. “Not only in Tamil Nadu, but Hindus all over the world will unite for this. A huge struggle will take place at the level of Tamil Nadu. Within this very year, we will light the lamp on Thirupparankundram hill,” he said.
He further alleged that the incident would have political consequences for the ruling DMK. “For the DMK and for this evil-force government, this will certainly be their death knell. In 2026, the people of Tamil Nadu, the Hindus of Tamil Nadu, will definitely give a reply,” he said.
Another speaker echoed these claims and accused the State government of continuously acting in a manner that, according to him, hurt Hindu religious sentiments.
“For this sin, Pooranachandran’s sacrifice will definitely burn Fort St George,” the speaker said, alleging that the government had failed to understand the emotions of the people. He claimed that, in response to Pooranachandran’s death, Hindus across Tamil Nadu would unite and ensure that the Karthigai Deepam was lit in accordance with the High Court order.
“Pooranachandran has died, and his death has rung the death knell for the DMK, for those opposed to the Hindu religion, and for these rulers,” the speaker said.
The police are continuing their investigation into the full circumstances surrounding the death.
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