The Madras High Court on Thursday (August 27, 2026) wanted to know whether the State government would be interested in acquiring a house in which Ramalinga Adigal alias Saint Vallalar resided at Veerasamy Pillai Street in Seven Wells, Chennai in the 1800s.
A Division Bench of Justices G. Jayachandran and E. Manoharan directed Special Government Pleader (Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department) R. Bharanitharan to obtain instructions in this regard, from the officials concerned, by September 10, 2026.
The query was raised during the hearing of a batch of cases filed in 2024 against the proposed construction of Vallalar International Centre (VIC) on the Peruveli land, from where devotees take a glimpse of Arutperum Jothi, an ever-glowing lamp lit by Saint Vallalar, at Sathya Gnana Sabai in Vadalur, Cuddalore district.
Another Division Bench of Justices R. Suresh Kumar (since retired) and S. Sounthar had on October 10, 2024 passed an interim order restraining the HR&CE Department as well as the administrators of Sathya Gnana Sabai from constructing the VIC on the Peruveli land.
Now, appearing before the Division Bench led by Justice Jayachandran, the SGP said, the HR&CE department had decided to revise the construction plan and avoid any kind of construction on the Peruveli land so that there shall not be any obstruction in witnessing the Arutperum Jothi.
However, it had been decided to construct facilities such as Vivakara Salai (library) and Yoga Salai (meditation hall) on the peripheries of the Peruveli, without obstructing the visibility of Gnana Sabai, the law officer said. He stated that the government was yet to approve the revised proposal for construction.
Mr. Bharanidharan further informed the court that the HR&CE department proposes to fence 71.26 acres of land currently in possession of the Sathya Gnana Sabai in order to prevent further encroachments. Though a much larger tract of 80 Cawnies (approximately 105.8 acres) had been donated to the Sabai several decades ago, a considerable portion of it had been encroached over the years, the court was told.
Deciding to deal with the issue of encroachments separately, the judges asked the SGP to apprise the court by September 10, 2026 with respect to the government’s approval for the revised plan of constructions at Sathya Gnana Sabai and the government’s view on acquiring the Chennai house in which Saint Vallalar had resided, along with his brother, in the early 1800s.
