Madras High Court-appointed amici curiae inspect proposed site for 184-ft Murugan statue at Marudhamalai temple in Coimbatore

The Madras High Court-appointed amici curiae on December 23, 2025 (Tuesday) inspected the proposed site for an 184-foot-tall statue of Lord Murugan at the Marudhamalai Subramaniaswamy Temple, under the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department, in the Boluvampatti Forest Range in Coimbatore. The inspection was carried out in the presence of Special Government Pleader (Forests) T. Seenivasan and Special Government Pleader (HR&CE) N.R.R. Arun Natarajan, as directed by the court. A special Division Bench of Justices N. Sathish Kumar and D. Bharatha Chakravarthy, constituted to hear forest- and wildlife-related cases, had ordered the site inspection and asked the amici curiae to submit a report by January 23, 2026. The temple administration has stated that the statue would be installed on 23 cents of land at the foothills, out of the 4.96-acre impact area, leaving the remaining 4.73 acres untouched. The site is stated to have the capacity to accommodate up to 15,000 devotees at a time, with one-way traffic arrangements proposed around the statue. The administration has also proposed to lease 7.98 acres of nearby government poromboke land near Bharathiar University, located about 600 metres from the proposed site, for a bus terminal and parking facilities. The amici curiae also visited the Anuvavi Subramaniar Temple near Periya Thadagam, where a rope car project has been announced. Published - December 23, 2025 07:20 pm IST

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