Karthigai Deepam To Be Lit At Ancient Pillar In Madurai's Thirupparankundram: High Court

In a significant ruling ahead of the Karthigai Deepam festival on December 3, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has ordered that, apart from the customary lighting of the festival lamp near the Uchi Pillaiyar Temple, the Deepam must also be lit at the Deepathoon -- an ancient stone lamp pillar located on a lower peak of the Thirupparankundram hill in Madurai.

Justice GR Swaminathan directed the temple management to light the lamp at both places, while instructing the police to provide security.

What Is The Dispute?

For more than 100 years, the Karthigai Deepam at Thirupparankundram has been lit near the Uchipillaiyar Temple, midway up the hill. Petitioners argued that the ancient pillar on the lower peak called Deepathoon was historically meant for lighting the Deepam, and that doing so would assert the temple's rights over the hill.

The temple administration (the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Board) and the Dargah, however, opposed the move. Their main concerns were that the Deepathoon lies closer to the hilltop mosque and that lighting the lamp there had not been done for a century.

The hill contains both the Subramania Swamy Temple and the Sikkandar Badhusha Dargah. Past disputes over land ownership and access date back to colonial times. A landmark 1923 judgment, later upheld by the Privy Council, declared that except for the mosque site, the flight of steps, and the burial-ground area known as Nellithope, the rest of the hill belonged to the temple.

Why Did Court Allow Lighting At Deepathoon?

Justice Swaminathan held that the Deepathoon is on temple land -- well outside the areas belonging to the Dargah -- and therefore the temple has every right to light the Deepam there. He noted:

"Deepathoon is in the unoccupied portion and belongs exclusively to the temple."

The judge emphasised that lighting the Deepam at the ancient pillar is not merely a religious act but a necessary assertion of the temple's legal rights:

"For the sake of protecting its property, the temple management is obliged to light the festival lamp at the Deepathoon."

He also recalled that Tamil tradition recognises lighting lamps atop hills and that the very presence of the stone pillar indicates its intended purpose:

"A Deepathoon is what it is... The very purpose of Deepathoon is to light a lamp thereon."

The court rejected arguments that the move would violate customary practice or disturb communal harmony, pointing out that the Deepathoon is nearly 50 metres away from the mosque, satisfying even earlier court instructions that any lighting must be kept at least 15 metres from the Dargah.

With the HR&CE and Dargah trustees strongly opposing the decision, the court's order is likely to be challenged in an appeal tomorrow.