Chennai: The centuries-old religious area of Madurai, with a temple and dargah resting in close proximity, has largely remained free of any communal tensions, with both coexisting in relative harmony
Tirupparankundram in Madurai’s hilltop region has deep spiritual importance with the Subramaniya Swamy Temple at its base, and the Sultan Sikkandar Avulia Dargah on the summit. The Kashivishwanathan temple is also located in the midst of the hills.
First dispute dated to 1915
The area first witnessed a dispute in 1915, around a hundred years ago. At that time, the Madura Meenakshi Devasthanam was administering the Swamy temple, which is also known as the six abodes of Lord Muruga.
It began when the hukdars (caretakers) of Sikkandar Dargah Hukdars planned to construct a mandapam in Nellitope for their pilgrims to rest. The temple authorities opposed, citing that the Muslim pilgrims should not have exclusive right to the diverging path, which also leads to the temple.
Soon, legal proceedings were initiated in the court, with the then Madurai collector, GF Paddison, a British ICS officer, participating to mediate between the two parties.
The issue had taken a turn when the British Raj government intervened, stating that since it shared ownership of the hill, the dispute could not be decided by the collector alone.
It died down after the temple authorities opposed the government’s involvement.
In 1920, the legal foundation of the hill was first challenged by both religious sites. At the time, a civil court held that the Tirupparankundram hill belonged to the Subramaniya Swamy Temple, excluding the area attached to the dargah.
The decree clarified who owned the hill, but left rituals, customs, and the deepam tradition untouched.
Lighting of Deepam
The deepam (traditional Hindu lamp) ritual, during the Karthigal Deepam festival, became a point of contention only in 1994, when a devotee petitioned the Madras High Court to move the ceremony from the usual Uchipillar Kovil mandapam spot to Deepathoon, a pillar at Thiruparankundram hill with proximity to the Sikandar Badusha dargah.
In 1996, the High Court ruled that the deepam should be lit ‘ordinarily in the traditional location of the mandapam at Subramaniaswamy Temple near Uchipillaiyar Kovil.’
On December 1, 2025, the row re-ignited when a single judge of the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court, Justice G Swaminathan, while hearing a plea filed by Hindu Tamilar Katchi founder Rama Ravikumar, permitted devotees to light on the Deepathoon.
When the order remained unimplemented, the judge passed another order on December 3 permitting devotees themselves to light the lamp and directed the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to ensure their protection.
The ruling DMK government refused to carry out the order, citing concerns of a possible communal tension months ahead of the Tamil Nadu polls.
When the deepam was not lit, clashes broke out between Hindutva workers and the police, disrupting law and order.
According to India Today, members of four Hindutva groups, Hindu Makkal Katchi, Hindu Tamilar Katchi, Hanuman Senai, and Hindu Munnani, tried to climb the Thiruparankundram Hill to light up the lamps when they had a tussle with the local police.
Impeachment notice against HC judge
On December 9, led by DMK MP Kanimozhi, party’s Lok Sabha leader TR Baalu, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, and senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra submitted a notice to Speaker Om Birla to move a motion for the removal of Justice Swaminathan whose order directing Subramaniya Swamy temple authorities to ensure that a lamp is lit at the deepathoon (pillar) sparked a row.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the Tamil Nadu government’s challenge to the High Court order allowing devotees of the Subramaniya Swamy Temple to light the traditional ‘Karthigai Deepam’ lamp at the Deepathoon.
Misinformation of dargah built on temple land
The Tamil Nadu government on December 8 debunked the fake news which falsely claimed that a dargah was being built on temple grounds on the Thiruparankundram Hill, calling it “a rumour that spreads hatred.”
The claims went viral after photos of the dargah were widely circulated by right-wing outfits, comparing it to temple-like structures.
The once peaceful site of two different religious places has now become the centre of political controversy, with one side claiming that the dargah was built on the demolished temple grounds in an already communally charged time.
| Edited by Veena Nair | 
