Tension outside Tamil Nadu temple over row over renaming of Thiruparankundram hillock

Chennai: Tension prevailed at the Lord Murugan temple in Thiruparankundram near Madurai on Tuesday after members of Hindu Munnani, a right-wing outfit, held a protest against demand by a few Muslim organisations to rename the hillock, which is also home to a dargah, as Sikkandar Malai.

The protest, which took place despite the Madurai District administration enforcing prohibitory orders under Section 163 of BNSS, comes after a few people, allegedly belonging to the Muslim community, consumed meat at the hillock, which is considered as one of the abodes of Lord Murugan, known as the Tamil god.

With police detaining the protesters, the Hindu Munnani knocked at the doors of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court seeking permission for the agitation. However, the Justices G Jayachandran and R Poornima allowed members of the Hindu Munnani to hold the protest at Palanganatham junction, about 5 km from the temple premises.

The judges observed that the police could have handled the situation better but arrived at a consensus to allow peaceful protests. They also ordered that no provocative or offensive slogans should be raised and ruled that the petitioners will be responsible if the protesters didn’t follow the rules.

Thiruparankundram, located on the outskirts of Madurai, has been a heaven of religious harmony with people from both religions coexisting and offering prayers at their respective places of worship. However, the current row began a fortnight ago when photographs of people allegedly consuming meat surfaced leading to strong objection from believers of Lord Murugan.

The photograph also led to major confrontation between Ramanathapuram Lok Sabha MP Nawaz Kani and Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai who accused the former of leading the group that consumed meat at the hills.

Annamalai on Tuesday alleged that the government imposed prohibitory orders "across the state" to prevent people from coming to Thiruparankundram to express solidarity with the protesters.

While the right wing organisations and Muslim outfits fight it out, residents of Thiruparankundram have said that the controversy was unnecessary and they have been coexisting peacefully for decades together.