In a fresh twist to the ongoing religious and heritage dispute at the iconic Thiruparankundram hill, the Executive Officer (EO) of the Sri Subramania Swamy Temple has filed an appeal against a recent Madras High Court directive allowing the lighting of the traditional Karthigai Deepam at the ancient Deepathoon atop the hill.
The move has sparked widespread outrage among devotees and heritage activists, who view it as an attempt to undermine a centuries-old Tamil Hindu tradition.The High Court, in a ruling delivered just hours ago, quashed the EO’s earlier administrative order that had redirected the lighting to the temple’s Dheepa Mandapam instead of the hilltop lamp post. Justice G.R. Swaminathan, presiding over the single bench, emphasized that the Deepathoon is unequivocally temple property and that the practice poses no infringement on the rights of the adjacent Muslim dargah community. The judge noted that lighting the lamp atop the hill is a Tamil tradition, and that the dargah management has not demonstrated how they will be affected.
The controversy centers on the shared sacred space of Thiruparankundram hill in Madurai, which houses one of the six abodes of Lord Murugan for Hindus and the revered Malik Durgah for Muslims. The Deepathoon, a stone pillar lamp dating back centuries, has been the site of the Karthigai Deepam ritual—symbolizing the triumph of light over darkness—during the festival in the Tamil month of Karthigai (November-December). Devotees argue that shifting the lighting disrupts this unbroken tradition, while dargah representatives have raised concerns over potential encroachments on their space.
Roots of the Dispute
The flare-up traces back to early 2025, when simmering tensions over religious practices and property rights on the hill reignited public and legal battles.
Petitions before the Madras High Court sought not only permission for the hilltop lighting but also a ban on animal sacrifices at the dargah and retention of the hill’s historic name, rejecting attempts to rename it “Sikkandar Malai.” In October 2025, the court upheld the traditional nomenclature and imposed restrictions on certain dargah rituals, underscoring the need to balance coexisting faiths without altering established customs.
A division bench of the High Court reserved its judgment on November 29 after hearing arguments from both sides, including allegations that the Dheepa Mandapam—proposed as an alternative site—is already used for a separate “Moksha Deepam” ritual, making it unsuitable.
The single-judge order today paves the way for the festival lighting as scheduled, but the EO’s immediate appeal to a division bench threatens to delay proceedings.
Activist T.R. Ramesh asserts that the so-called Executive Officer of the Sri Subramania Swamy Temple holds no legitimate position, functioning merely as an unauthorized agent of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department. He argues that this individual lacks any statutory power to lodge the recent writ appeal challenging the Madras High Court’s ruling or to act on behalf of the temple in judicial matters, rendering him legally nonexistent—a “person non-est.” Ramesh grounds his claim in a 2014 Supreme Court ruling (2014 V SCC 75), which invalidated HR&CE commissioners’ appointments of executive officers under Section 45 of the Tamil Nadu HR&CE Act due to the absence of prescribed rules. Furthermore, he contends that the temple’s 1983 bifurcation from the larger Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple complex in Madurai was procured through deceitful means, including fabricated affidavits and the suppression of critical facts before the Madras High Court, thus tainting the entire foundation of the EO’s role.
There is no such person called Executive Officer of Sri Subramania Swamy temple, Tirupparankundram.
There is only a servant of the @tnhrcedept who falsely states that he is the Executive Officer of the temple.He has NO authority to file this Writ Appeal or to represent… https://t.co/GJ4W7T4W8Z
— trramesh (@trramesh) December 2, 2025
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