The Madras High Court has directed Madurai police to ensure that the Malai Mel Kumarar festival proceeds peacefully after an archaeology authority withdrew a restriction on cooking food at the Thiruparankundram hilltop.
Petitioners challenged conditions imposed for the 9 October 2026 festival and sought permission for villagers to prepare Kathamba Satham, a customary offering distributed to devotees. During the hearing, the Superintending Archaeologist produced a fresh communication withdrawing the prohibition on cooking food or prasadam.
Justices P. Velmurugan and K.K. Ramakrishnan dismissed one petition as infructuous and disposed of the other because the disputed condition no longer remained. They left open a separate challenge to the authority’s jurisdiction.
The court also recorded that customary and traditional practices would continue on a status quo basis and ordered the Commissioner of Police to take adequate measures to maintain law and order during the festival.