The Lok Sabha was shaken on December 5, 2025, over the lighting of the traditional Karthigai Deepam lamp at the stone lamp pillar on Thirupparankundram hill near Madurai. DMK leader T.R. Baalu accused the BJP of trying to "ignite" communal tensions in Tamil Nadu. DMK members stormed the Well of the House and forced the adjournment of the Question Hour to highlight the issue. During Zero Hour, Baalu questioned, "Who should light the deepam on the hill? Whether the Hindu Religious Endowment Board representative or some miscreants who have got a judgement from a Madras High Court's judge?" He also claimed the High Court judge had allegiance to a particular ideology. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju sharply replied that the DMK leader cannot cast aspersions on the judiciary and asked the chair to delete Baalu's remarks. BJP's Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, L Murugan, countered by accusing the Tamil Nadu government of denying devotees the right to worship at the Arulmighu Subramaniya Swamy Temple. He said in Tamil, "The State government is targeting a particular community and law and order of that region is being vitiated." Murugan added that Tamil Nadu Police had stopped devotees and arrested many heading to the temple to light the lamp as per the Madras High Court’s order, even arresting the Tamil Nadu BJP president. On the same day, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Tamil Nadu government's plea against a Madras High Court order allowing devotees to light the Karthigai Deepam at 'Deepathoon,' a stone lamp pillar on Thirupparankundram hillock, near a dargah. The Madras High Court bench dismissed an appeal by the Madurai district collector and police commissioner, upholding the order that the temple must light the lamp at the Deepathoon. Justice G R Swaminathan had ruled on December 1 that lighting the lamp would not infringe on the rights of the adjacent dargah or Muslim community. When the order was not implemented, he later allowed devotees to light the lamp themselves, with protection from CISF personnel. This heated issue has sparked political uproar in Parliament and legal battles in the courts.