Row politically motivated, Lord Shiva will ensure installation of Deepam atop hill: Dharmendra Pradhan

Condemning the ruling DMK for not honouring the high court verdict on lighting Karthigai Deepam atop the Thiruparankundram hillock adjacent to the Sikkandar Badshah Dargha, Union Education Minister and BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday asserted that none could prevent the lighting of Deepam as Lord Shiva will take care of it.

“It is the Tamil Nadu government which is responsible for the controversy over lighting the Deepam on the hilltop. It is highly condemnable as the government’s action in not abiding by the high court verdict is politically motivated. But none can prevent the lighting of Deepam atop the hill since Lord Shiva will take care of it and ensure it is successfully carried out,” he told the media, after a darshan at the famed Meenakshi-Sundareswarar temple in Madurai.

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Pradhan was in the temple city after participating in the valedictory of the Kashi Tamil Sangamam at the pilgrim centre, Rameswaram.

“Like Thirukural (Sangam era classic composed by sage-poet Thiruvalluvar), which can’t be separated from Tamil culture and society, Thiruparankundram too is integral to Tamil society. And, lighting the deepam at the ‘deepathoon’ (stone pillar) atop the hillock is a long-standing tradition. No one can prevent it. If anybody is bent upon preventing it, Lord Shiva will take care of it,” he said, adding, “The Tamil Nadu government’s handling of this spiritual issue despite the High Court’s clear ruling is politically motivated.”

With the BJP being accused of attempting to turn Thiruparankundram into an Ayodhya of the south, Pradhan is the third senior BJP leader, after Union Minister L Murugan and former Union Minister Anurag Thakur, to wade into the controversy. With assembly elections a few months away the saffron party is trying to keep the controversy alive.

Overlooking a Division Bench verdict of Madras, Justice GR Swaminathan of the Madurai Bench had granted permission to a rightwing petitioner to light the deepam at the disputed stone pillar after his earlier direction to the authorities of the Subramania Swami temple authorities, was not complied with. The authorities had lit the deepam at the usual place near the Uchipillaiyar temple, in the middle of the hillock right above the sanctum sanctorum of the famed temple at the foothills.

The dargah was built during the 17th century reign of a Pandya king for the ruler of the brief Madurai sultanate, who was defeated in war and then beheaded. The dargah is worshipped by people of all faiths.

The Tamil Nadu government had gone on appeal, challenging the single judge order and has maintained that the disputed stone pillar is not a deepathoon to light deepam. In the 1990s, the temple priests have, in an affidavit, made it clear that the deepathoon was not the place where deepam was traditionally lit. It was only at the deepa mantap close to the Uchipillaiyar temple. However, the BJP and other RSS affiliates have been trying to use this as a political plank.