WION Explains | What is the Madurai Thirupanrankudram temple controversy about?

On Wednesday, (3rd Dec) and Thursday, (4th Dec), chaos unfolded in the vicinity of the Thiruparankundram hilltop temple in Tamil Nadu's Madurai district. There were minor clashes between Hindu religious outfits backed by India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) and the Tamil Nadu Police authorities. After multiple hearings at the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court this week, this issue pertaining to the lighting of the sacred stone lamp at the hilltop Hindu temple has reached the Supreme Court of India.

What is the dispute?

A temple and a mosque are situated in close proximity at Thiruparankundram hill in Tamil Nadu's Madurai district. The two shrines are - the Subramaniya Swamy temple, which dates back to the 6th century, and the Sikkander Badusha dargah, a mosque that came up in the 17th century.

The issue pertains to the lighting of a sacred stone lamp at the hilltop temple on Karthigai Deepam, a one-day Hindu religious festival in Tamil Nadu. This festival is celebrated once a year.

On one side, Hindu religious outfits backed by the Tamil Nadu BJP have been undertaking legal measures to ensure that the lamp be lit at the hilltop shrine, as per ancient custom. They believe that the ancient customs and faith must be upheld. They believe that the lamp must be lit at a spot that is in proximity to the mosque.

On the other side, Tamil Nadu government authorities maintain that the lamp must be lit at what is known as the Deepa Mandapam, a different location in the vicinity of the hilltop temple. They cite that lighting the lamp at the Deepa Mandapam has been the practice for the last 100years or so. They also believe that lighting the lamp at the hilltop Hindu temple, close to a mosque, could potentially cause communal tensions and lead to law and order issues.

What happened on Wednesday and Thursday nights ?

Earlier this week, based on a petition from a member of a Hindu religious outfit, a single-judge from the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court had ordered that the sacred lamp be lit at the hilltop shrine.

On Wednesday evening, the Tamil Nadu Government authorities lit the lamp at the Deepa Mandapam, and not at the sacred stone lamp at the hilltop temple. On being apprised of this matter, the single-judge bench ordered that the petitioner and 10 others be permitted to light the lamp as per the court order. The judge also ordered the CISF paramilitary force to protect the petitioner.

Amid crowding at the site, the Tamil Nadu Government issued prohibitory orders and prevented the petitioner and the CISF team from going up to the temple and lighting the lamp. That night, there were clashes between the Police and the BJP-backed Hindu outfits. The Tamil Nadu Government has maintained that it issued prohibitory orders and deployed a huge number of police personnel as they feared communal tensions that could have deteriorated.

On Thursday, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court had dismissed the petition filed by the Tamil Nadu Government. The court noted that communal harmony can be achieved by coexistence. Further, the court mentioned that preventing one side's religious function cannot achieve religious harmony. The court ordered that the lamp be lit at the hilltop shrine on Thursday evening.

That evening, as the BJP-backed Hindu outfits began to gather for the lamp lighting, the Police did not permit them to proceed. The Police maintained that the Tamil Nadu government would be taking up this matter legally, once again. BJP leaders and members from Hindu outfits who protested at the site were taken into preventive custody.

BJP VS DMK political battle

On Thursday night, defending their DMK Government's decision, Tamil Nadu Law Minister Reghupathy cited a 2014 order by a two-judge bench of the Madras High Court, which cited that the lamp must be lit at the Deepa Mandapam and not at the sacred stone lamp of the hilltop temple, near the mosque. He said that the decade-old order of the two-judge bench has not been set aside so far. The minister maintained that the DMK government is acting in accordance with the law. The DMK accused the BJP and its allied outfits of "fomenting trouble by mixing religion and politics to incite riots".

The BJP, a part of the opposition alliance in Tamil Nadu, has accused the DMK government of being "anti-Hindu" and indulging in "minority appeasement politics", and "insulting Hindu faith".

Tamil Nadu heads for the State Assembly polls in barely 4 months from now. BJP and AIADMK are part of the opposition NDA alliance, taking on the ruling DMK and its allies.

Thiruparankundram case reaches the Supreme Court of India

On Friday, (Dec 5th) the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court took up the matter, but agreed to initially hear the case on Tuesday, (Dec 9th), and later decided to hear it on Friday, (Dec 12th).

Meanwhile, the DMK Government's counsel approached the Chief Justice of India for an urgent hearing of this issue. However, the Chief Justice refused to grant an urgent hearing, and clarity is yet to emerge on when it would be taken up for hearing.