Hindu Munnani state president Kadeswara Subramaniam has strongly condemned the reported arrest of Murugan devotees who gathered to recite the Kandha Sashti Kavasam at temples across Tamil Nadu, alleging that the DMK government had denied devotees their right to worship.
In a statement, he said that on 23 February 2026, marking Sashti and Krithigai, thousands of devotees under the banner of the Muruga Bhaktargal Peravai conducted Kandha Sashti Kavasam recitations in numerous temples across the state. He stated that the prayers were offered for family welfare, public good, the progress of Tamil Nadu and national development, and also as a vow seeking the unhindered implementation of a court order regarding the lighting of the lamp at the Thiruparankundram Deepa Thoon.
Subramaniam alleged that when devotees went to temples to conduct the recitation, the DMK government termed the shrines as HR&CE department temples and public places and carried out arrests in what he described as an arbitrary manner. He further claimed that oral instructions had been passed to HR&CE officials to prevent the event and to lodge complaints against participants.
According to him, based on such information, HR&CE officials in several temples alerted the police, following which Kandha Sashti Kavasam recitations were stopped.
He specifically cited incidents at Kumbakonam Thenupureeswarar Temple and the Arulmigu Subramaniya Swamy Temple in Thanjavur, where he alleged that Murugan devotees who arrived to sing the hymn were detained by police, thereby denying their right to worship. He also claimed that at the Kurunthamalai Murugan Temple in Karamadai, devotees were physically removed from the premises.
Subramaniam further stated that at the Arulmigu Subramaniaswamy Temple in Mettupalayam, devotees were forced to sit on the road and recite Kandha Sashti Kavasam after being denied permission inside the temple.
He maintained that the Muruga Bhaktargal Peravai had not placed any demands before the state government and that devotees had gathered only to fulfil a prayer in a peaceful manner. The arrests and removals, he said, had created doubts among the public about whether such actions reflected authoritarian governance.
The Hindu Munnani leader asserted that Lord Murugan is revered as a family deity by many Hindus in Tamil Nadu and that preventing devotees from reciting Kandha Sashti Kavasam in temples amounted to injustice against Murugan worshippers. He also alleged that the state government had curtailed the constitutional right to worship.
Condemning what he described as an “arbitrary approach” against Murugan devotees, Subramaniam urged the Tamil Nadu government to immediately withdraw from temple administration under the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department.
Source: Hindu Munnani
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