Tiruparankundram, One Of The Six Abodes Of Lord Muruga In Tamil Nadu, Now Being Claimed As 'Sikandar Hill'

Arjun Sampath, the leader of the Indu Makkal Katchi (IMK) has said that some Muslims are now claiming that the Tiruparankundram hill near Madurai, which is one of the six abodes of Lord Muruga (Kartikeya) is 'Sikandar Hill.'

Explaining about how the claim came about, he said, " In the medieval era, i.e., during Islamic rule, a dargah was set up and in the 1950s, it had about 32 cents of land.

"Recently, after the ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI), imams close to the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) have started claiming the whole hill as 'Sikandar Hill' after a Muslim whose corpse has been buried there and offering namaz at Nellithopu, a location on the way to the Kashi Viswanatha temple on the hill. They have cooked up a story.

"Usually, during their festival days, they used to conduct some prayers for half an hour or so which was not a problem but nowadays every month they are conducting some programmes. Most Muslims who come are non-locals, they are coming from Bihar, Kerala etc and conducting programmes in a secretive manner in the hill. They are supported by local imams close sympathetic to the PFI and SDPI."

Recently, while hearing a petition filed by Ramalingam, State Organisation Secretary of Aghila Bharatha Hanuman Sena, a bench of Justices R Subramanian and L Victoria Gowri of the Madras High Court declined to prohibit the offering of namaz in Nellithopu. It asked the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HRCE) department to submit a report on the issue.

The petition said, “The Jamath members usually offered their prayers at the Pallivasal (Mosque) and that this type of incident has never happened before. The Sikkandar Badhusha Dharga is also situated at the Thirupparakundram mountain and there were other vacant lands available for offering prayers nearby. By offering Namaz at the Nellithopu, the Jamath members were causing nuisance and hindrance to the public and after offering Namaz, the members polluted the pathway with food waste and plastic waste etc.”