Tamil Nadu takes Karthigai Deepam hilltop lamp dispute to Supreme Court

Tamil Nadu has moved the Supreme Court in a fresh legal challenge over the lighting of the Karthigai Deepam at Thirupparankundram Hill in the state's south. The dispute centres on a stone pillar known as the Deepathoon, located near the Sikandar Badusha Dargah, and has become the latest flashpoint in a long-running religious and property rights row. The state's petition follows a Madras High Court ruling that allowed the ceremonial lamp to be lit at the site during the annual festival.

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Court records show the state filed its appeal on 11 June through counsel B Karunakaran. The challenge is directed against a 6 January judgment of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, which upheld an earlier order issued on 1 December 2025 by Justice G R Swaminathan. That order had directed the Subramaniya Swamy Temple administration to light the lamp at the Deepathoon during Karthigai Deepam.

The petition was filed after a request by Rama Ravikumar and others seeking permission for the ritual at the hilltop location. The previous DMK government had opposed the request, saying the site's proximity to the dargah could trigger communal tensions and disturb public order. The state argued that allowing the ritual at the summit could reopen a sensitive dispute in an area where a Hindu temple and a Muslim shrine have coexisted for generations.

Justice Swaminathan rejected those concerns, saying it was difficult to accept the state's fear that a single annual act by temple representatives would disturb public peace. He also said the limited worship arrangement would not be an unmanageable administrative task. The case matters because it sits at the intersection of religious practice, land use and public order in a place that carries strong symbolic significance for both communities.

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Thirupparankundram Hill is not only a temple site but also home to the dargah, making any change to ritual practice politically and legally sensitive. The state's decision to take the matter to the top court suggests it sees the issue as extending beyond a local festival dispute and into broader questions about how courts should balance faith claims with administrative concerns. The row has already moved through multiple judicial stages, including the Madurai Bench and a Division Bench that largely endorsed the earlier reasoning.

The latest appeal indicates that the legal contest is still unresolved and that the Supreme Court may now be asked to weigh in on the scope of religious observance at the site. The dispute also reflects the continuing role of courts in adjudicating contested religious spaces in India, where questions of tradition, access and public order often overlap. What remains unclear is when the Supreme Court will hear the petition and whether it will stay the High Court's ruling in the meantime.

It is also not yet clear how the temple administration and the dargah side will respond in the next stage of proceedings. For now, the case remains a live test of how the judiciary will handle a sensitive ritual dispute with potential implications for local peace and religious rights.

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