Murugan Conference In Madurai Was Decidedly Political — But Dravidians Can't Complain

The saffron tide that swept through Madurai on June 22 wasn’t just a spiritual swell. It was a political statement. The Murugan Bhakthargal Aanmeega Manadu, organised by Hindu Munnani, drew over five lakh devotees from across Tamil Nadu and beyond. Beneath the devotional chants and the recreated Arupadai Veedu shrines (the six holy abodes of Lord Muruga in Tamil Nadu), the event pulsed with a deeper intent.

The choice of Madurai was no accident. The city, intrinsically linked with the legend of Murugan and the rich tapestry of Tamil Shaivism, provided a potent backdrop for a conference aimed at galvanising Hindu identity. The presence of lakhs of devotees and activists, many sporting saffron and carrying images of Murugan, signalled the mood.

This was a gathering both spiritual and deeply political, a conscious effort to challenge the hegemonic narrative of Dravidian atheism and anti-Brahminism that has long dominated Tamil Nadu's intellectual and political landscape.

Held at Amma Thidal near Vandiyur, the large conference showed that the Sangh Parivar could pull off a major event in Tamil Nadu. And the response and statements to the event from the Dravidian pantheon suggest that the ruling camp is a bit rattled in the state.

The conference was initially mired in controversy. Tamil Nadu Police did not want to grant permission, as it cited crowd control concerns. But the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court overruled the decision, allowing the event to proceed under strict safety protocols. That legal victory emboldened organisers and set the tone for what followed: a full-throated cultural counteroffensive.

Resolutions at the Conference Spell Out the Defiant Mood

The conference passed eight resolutions, each a pointed response to long-standing grievances. Among others, it included lighting the Karthigai Deepam atop Thirupparankundram Hill annually, asserting Murugan’s primacy over the site. The place had recently seen Hindu-Muslim conflagration, and the conference declared that the famed Murugan hills belong solely to Lord Murugan, rejecting any shared religious claims.

Challenging the state control, the conference demanded the removal of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department from temple administration. It also called for resistance to religious conversions and urged the Hindus to chant Kandha Shashti Kavasam (a popular Tamil hymn in praise of Lord Muruga) regularly.

And then, leaving no one in any doubt about the political nature of the conference, it also made a clarion call to the Hindus to vote en bloc.

Though unarticulated, the defiant mood of the conference was the larger feeling that if events of other faiths can exhort their members to vote strategically, why can't the Hindus?

Resistance Against Dravidian Deracination

The BJP, which has long struggled to gain a foothold in Tamil Nadu, possibly sees in Murugan a cultural bridge. And it has gone all out to make a strong statement through the event. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Andhra Pradesh Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan, and former TN BJP chief K Annamalai all lent their weight to the conference. Their speeches invoked Murugan not just as a deity, but as a symbol of Tamil identity and resistance against what they framed as "Dravidian deracination".

Caught in the crossfire was the AIADMK. Technically a Dravidian outfit, it is now an ally of the BJP. While its General Secretary and former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami sent his greetings, the party stopped short of full endorsement. Still, five senior leaders of the party were present at the event.

Criticism of Dravidian Leaders Inevitable

The conference buzzed with fervent speeches, each one a passionate defence of Hindu traditions and a sharp rebuke to the insults repeatedly hurled by Dravidian ideologues. Criticism of EV Ramaswamy and other architects of the Dravidian movement was not merely inevitable but foundational to the conference's purpose.

Many speakers spoke about the need for a necessary corrective to decades of one-sided historical interpretations and ideological indoctrination. They contended that the Dravidian movement's fundamental anti-religious and particularly anti-Hindu stance had fostered a climate of disrespect and even hatred towards the majority faith.

To that effect, the resolutions passed at the Murugan Manadu were clear, unambiguous, and designed to send a powerful message.

The AIADMK’s silence during these moments has triggered attacks from the DMK and its allies. In damage control mode, the AIADMK clarified that its leaders attended as devotees, not as political representatives, and said it had nothing to do with the resolutions passed at the event.

Murugan as a Symbol of Resistance

For decades, the Dravidian movement had claimed to champion rationalism and atheism, but went after only Hindu traditions. This is having repercussions, and to counter this growing anti-Hindu image, the DMK orchestrated its own Murugan conference in Palani in 2024. It was seen as an attempt to reclaim lost ground after Udhayanidhi Stalin’s bigoted remarks on destroying Sanatana Dharma.

But for many devotees, that Palani outreach rang hollow. The Madurai conference, in contrast, was unapologetically devotional and defiantly political. It framed itself not just as a celebration of Murugan, but as a reclamation of Tamil Hindu identity.

The DMK and its allies, which in their political conferences had never held back on foul-mouthing Hindu gods, cannot now cry that the Murugan conference was political. What it sowed, it has to reap. It can't complain. Can it?

With Assembly elections looming, the Murugan Manadu may prove to be a watershed. It has provided impetus to a section of Tamil voters who may have felt alienated by the Dravidian brand of specious secularism. The conference has also forced the AIADMK to confront its ideological contradictions. And it has given the BJP a potent cultural narrative, one rooted not in Hindi-Hindu-Hindustan, but in Vel, Murugan, and Tamil pride.

Whether this translates into electoral gains remains to be seen. But one thing is certain. The battle for Tamil Nadu’s soul is no longer confined to the ballot box. It’s being waged in temples, on hills, and in the hearts of devotees chanting "Aro Hara".