The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday sought response from authorities to a public interest litigation petition seeking a direction to the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department to restore Dhyana Mandapam in Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple in Madurai and keep it open for devotees.

A Division Bench of Justices S.M. Subramaniam and A.D. Maria Clete was hearing the petition filed by V. Karuppu of Madurai. The petitioner said Dhyana Mandapam was designed to facilitate meditation. The Dhyana Mandapam served as a designated space for quiet contemplation, promoting inner peace and fostering a connection with the divine or the universal consciousness.

However, the authorities have prevented the devotees and the public from meditating in this hall and started to use it as a storehouse to keep the wooden logs, iron bars and other temple goods. Now, the meditation hall is in a bad condition and is not being maintained properly, he said.

The meditation hall is part and parcel of the temple. To use the meditation hall as a storehouse and to prevent devotees from meditating was totally against the Vedic principles based on which the temple was designed and constructed. The authorities cannot act against the Vedic principles, he said.

The petitioner said he had written to the authorities to restore Dhyana Mandapam to its original position and allow the public to meditate in the hall. However, his efforts had failed, he said and sought a direction to the HR and CE authorities to restore Dhyana Mandapam to its original condition and keep it open for the devotees.