The Madras High Court’s Madurai Division Bench today upheld a single judge’s order allowing the lighting of a lamp claimed as Deepathoon on the Thirupparankundram hill.

A Division Bench of Justices G Jayachandran and KK Ramakrishnan delivered the judgment, making it clear that the spot on which the stone pillar Deepathoon is located belongs to the Lord Subramania Swamy Temple. The Bench said the lamp may be lit and the number of persons permitted can be fixed, subject to consultation with the Archaeological Survey of India.

Advocate and petitioner for Hindu Munnani, Niranjan S Kumar, the Division bench has said that the lighting of the lamp is a must, and it has to be lit at the top of the Thiruparankundram hill.

Petitioner Rajesh also lauded the court’s order, saying that the lamp should be lit on a Deepathoon and the temple administration should make the necessary arrangements for it. He said the arguments presented by the state government on the matter were rejected by the court. Mr Rajesh asserted that the verdict is a victory for Hindus in Tamil Nadu and for devotees of Murugan.

Last month, unrest broke out during the Hindu festival of Karthigai Deepam when activists from right-wing groups clashed with police. The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court had earlier directed that the lamp be lit at the hilltop temple. Acting on a petition filed by a right-wing activist, Justice GR Swaminathan had instructed state authorities to ensure that the sacred lamp was lit atop the hill. However, government officials maintained that this violated the longstanding practice of lighting the lamp at the nearby Deepa Mandapam, a ritual observed for several years.

In the first week of December 2025, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court directed that the petitioner, along with ten others, be permitted to go up to the Deepam pillar on the Thirupparankundram hilltop to light the Karthigai Deepam.

The court ordered the Central Industrial Security Force to provide adequate security after it found that its earlier order on the ritual had been wilfully disobeyed. During the Winter Session of Parliament last month, several opposition MPs submitted a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla regarding an impeachment motion against Madras HC judge Justice Swaminathan.