The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the Madurai police to provide adequate and effective protection for a peaceful conduct of the Chithirai festival event at the Thenur Mandagapadi.

Justice L. Victoria Gowri said a festival, which has travelled through centuries, must not be held captive to momentary disputes. The river witnessed kingdoms rise and fall, communities gather and disperse, and generations bow in devotion. The procession of Lord Kallazhagar is not merely a movement of the deity; it is the movement of Madurai’s collective soul.