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The Tamil Nadu government has approached the Supreme Court to contest a Madras High Court ruling that permitted the lighting of 'Karthigai Deepam' on a stone pillar near a shrine on the Thirupparankundram hill in Madurai district. This Special Leave Petition (SLP) challenges the decision made by the division bench of the Madras High Court on January 6, which upheld a previous order from December 2025 allowing devotees to light lamps on the 'Deepa Thoon' (stone lamp pillar). The petition was submitted to the Supreme Court on June 11, shortly after the new government led by TVK chief Vijay assumed office.

The dispute centers around the 'Deepa Thoon', located approximately 50 meters from the shrine at the top of Thirupparankundram hill. Several devotees had approached the High Court seeking permission to light traditional lamps at this site. However, the state's Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department, which manages the nearby Lord Subramanya temple, opposed this petition. They argued that there is no established tradition of lighting lamps at this specific location, and such rituals have historically been performed elsewhere. Justice G.R. Swaminathan, while accepting the petitions, stated that allowing the lighting of lamps would not infringe upon the rights of the shrine and preventing devotees from performing this ritual would violate their religious rights. When the state administration failed to implement the order, contempt proceedings were initiated, during which the court directed that the ritual be conducted under the protection of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

Subsequently, a division bench upheld both the original order and the directives issued during the contempt proceedings. The state government had previously approached the Supreme Court regarding the contempt-related order last December, but the petition was not listed for hearing. In its January ruling, the division bench noted that permitting the lighting of lamps would not pose any law and order issues. The bench also emphasized that it is the temple administration's responsibility to safeguard religious traditions, dismissing the state's argument that the 'Deepa Thoon' was merely a survey stone established during the British era.

The Thirupparankundram hill case involves a longstanding legal and communal dispute in Madurai concerning religious rights, claims of ownership over the hill, and access to the 'Deepa Thoon' located near the shrine of Sultan Bahu. This controversy encompasses the centuries-old Arulmigu Subramanya Swamy temple and the Sultan Bahu shrine, raising various legal issues related to religious practices, historical claims, and the shared use of spaces by devotees of different faiths.