A two-minute power outage at Madurai’s Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple during Vice-President C P Radhakrishnan’s visit has led to the temporary suspension of a junior electrical engineer, according to the temple administration’s official order.
S Janakiraman, a junior electrical engineer at the Arulmigu Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, was suspended with effect from October 31 after the interruption occurred during the Vice-President’s visit on October 30. The suspension was issued by R Rukmani, head of the temple’s Board of Trustees.
The outage took place after Radhakrishnan and Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar had completed their darshan. While the Vice-President was addressing journalists on East Chithirai Street, the temple’s power supply was interrupted for about two minutes, leaving the temple in darkness, the report said.
The administration described the incident as severe carelessness during a crucial visit and said the lapse brought disrepute to the state government and the temple administration. The disciplinary proceedings were initiated under Section 56(1) of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959.
Janakiraman has been asked to submit a written explanation within 15 days. The suspension order states that further administrative action may be taken on the basis of the existing documents if he does not respond within the stipulated period. It also gives him 30 days to appeal to the appropriate authorities against the action.
The incident has also drawn attention to the temple’s backup power arrangements. Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister R Nirmal Kumar said the interruption was not caused by a grid failure but by a technical glitch at the local substation while the temple’s power supply was being shifted in advance to a generator for the Vice-President’s visit.
The outage became part of a wider political exchange after Radhakrishnan attributed the incident to the state’s power situation and said the Goddess was intentionally showing the country the extent of power cuts in Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK criticised the temple administration, noting that a similar outage had occurred at the temple a day earlier during a visit by former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.
The immediate administrative process will now depend on the suspended engineer’s written explanation and any appeal filed within the prescribed timelines. The temple administration’s suspension order remains the basis for the disciplinary action announced after the outage.
