Was Thirupparankundram temple closure delayed to facilitate Minister Nirmalkumar’s visit? asks Madras High Court

The Madras High Court on Thursday (May 21, 2026) called for a report from Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department regarding alleged delay in closing the Thirupparankundram Subramaniasamy temple in Madurai district on May 15 to facilitate the visit of Minister for Energy Resources and Law R. Nirmalkumar who had been elected from Thirupparankundram constituency.

A summer vacation Bench of Justices G.R. Swaminathan and V. Lakshminarayanan broached the subject during the hearing of a public interest litigation petition filed for abolishing special paid darshan and VIP darshan in temples but for certain exceptions. The judges directed the HR&CE department to make sure that the report sought for by them gets filed before the court by May 29, 2026.

The PIL petition had been filed by P. Chockalingam, the North Tamil Nadu unit president of Vishwa Hindu Parishad. He insisted on abolishing the paid special darshan and VIP darshan in temples but for granting exemption to Jeeyars, Ubayadarar, senior citizens, the physically challenged devotees, pregnant women, newly married couples, heads of State, constitutional authorities and so on.

The petitioner’s counsel B. Jagannath told the court around 36,000 temples were under the control of HR&CE department in Tamil Nadu. Though the Sanatana Dharma does not permit discrimination in temple entry on the basis of the economic status of devotees, the HR&CE department had been facilitating special paid darshan in almost all temples for the benefit of those who could afford to pay, he complained.

The counsel told the court neither the HR&CE Act of 1959 nor the Temple Entry Act of 1947 or any other statutory rules or regulations permit the collection of money from devotees for a speedy darshan of the deities in a temple. “This is nothing but a new innovation created by the respondent department to garner revenue and indulge in exploitation of devotees and fleece them in the name of special darshan,” he said.

He went on to state: “Having darshan of the deity is a matter of faith and money cannot be a barrier or a tool to determine how to meet one’s maker. It should be devotion and not money, status or position of power that should determine how one can meet the Lord.”