In a key order passed just before the Karthigai Deepam festival on December 3, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court said that, along with the usual lighting of the festival lamp near the Uchi Pillaiyar Temple, the Deepam must also be lit at the Deepathoon, which is an ancient stone lamp pillar standing on a lower peak of the Thirupparankundram hill in Madurai.

Justice GR Swaminathan asked the temple authorities to light the lamp at both places and directed the police to provide full security.

For more than a hundred years, the Karthigai Deepam at Thirupparankundram has been lit near the Uchipillaiyar Temple that stands midway on the hill. The petitioners said that the Deepathoon on the lower peak was originally meant for lighting the Deepam and that lighting it again would help the temple reaffirm its rights over the hill.

The temple management, which is the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Board (HRCE) and the Dargah, opposed this idea. They said the Deepathoon is closer to the hilltop mosque and that lighting the lamp there has not happened for almost a century.

The hill is home to both the Subramania Swamy Temple and the Sikkandar Badhusha Dargah. Old disagreements over land and access date back to colonial times. A major ruling in 1923, which was later upheld by the Privy Council, said that except for the mosque area, the flight of steps, and the burial ground known as Nellithope, the rest of the hill belonged to the temple.

Justice Swaminathan said that the Deepathoon stands on temple land and is clearly outside the areas that belong to the Dargah and so the temple has every right to light the Deepam there. He said, "Deepathoon is in the unoccupied portion and belongs exclusively to the temple."

He said lighting the Deepam at the old pillar is not only a religious practice but also an important way for the temple to assert its legal rights. He said, "For the sake of protecting its property, the temple management is obliged to light the festival lamp at the Deepathoon."

He also said that Tamil customs have always accepted lighting lamps on hills and that the ancient pillar itself shows why it was built. He said, "A Deepathoon is what it is... The very purpose of Deepathoon is to light a lamp thereon."

The court rejected the concern that this would break old customs or disturb communal peace. It said the Deepathoon is around fifty metres from the mosque, which also follows earlier court directions that any lighting should be at least fifteen metres away from the Dargah.

With both the HR and CE Board and the Dargah trustees strongly opposing the order, the decision is expected to be challenged in an appeal tomorrow.