Justice L. Victoria Gowri of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court issued a series of directions to authorities to prevent such incidents, taking a serious view of miscreants throwing shoes at devotees during the ceremonial journey of Lord Kallazhagar, which culminated in the entry of the deity into Vaigai as part of the Chithirai festival.
It was hearing a petition filed by P. Sundaravadivel of Madurai asking the authorities to take precautionary measures. Justice Gowri said that throwing shoes at devotees in the middle of a divine procession was not only an act of disorder but also an insult to faith, an attack on customary religious practices and a desecration of secular brotherhood which formed part of the constitutional ethos. “The Chithirai festival is not just a temple event. It is a civilizational continuum, a living embodiment of Tamil heritage, rooted in the Sangam culture and nurtured for centuries. The festival in its current form represents the confluence of the Meenakshi Amman temple traditions and the Kallazhagar temple traditions, symbolically uniting the Shaivite and Vaishnava currents of the devo singular,” sheivtional said in singular.
Published – 30 Apr 2026 22:01 IST
