In Kurumbur, Thoothukudi district, the Christian pastor Mohan C. Lazarus is running the “Jesus Delivers Ministries Church.”
This church is operating opposite the Kurumbur railway station. Near this church, the Railadi Arulmigu Ananda Vinayagar Temple was established, and local people had been worshipping there. The railway administration filed a case in the Madurai Bench of the Chennai High Court, stating that this temple had been set up within the jurisdiction of the Southern Railway’s Madurai Division administration without the railway administration’s permission.
Hindu Munnani members allege that the railway administration officer filed this case only at the instigation of Mohan C. Lazarus’s side.

In this case, which has been ongoing for the past 8 years, “Local people have encroached upon 9.61 square meters of railway land in the Kurumbur railway station premises and built a place of worship in the name of Vinayagar Temple. Based on the railway administration’s statement that it is causing inconvenience to the public, this encroachment should be removed.
It was ordered to the district administration that police protection and security be provided to the railway to remove the encroachment,” it was ruled on 03.08.2026.
Eral taluk officials and police from the Kurumbur police station tried to remove the encroachment. However, tension prevailed as members of the Hindu Munnani organization and local residents gathered and staged a sit-in protest. As a result, the encroachment removal work was temporarily suspended.

In this situation, it was later demolished and removed using a JCB machine at around 3 a.m. on 20.08.2026. The Vinayagar idol was handed over to Eral Tahsildar Selvakumar and kept at the taluk office.
19 members of the Hindu Munnani who took part in the protest were arrested. As news of the removal of the Vinayagar temple spread like wildfire, a large crowd of villagers gathered in front of the railway station, causing a major commotion.
Following this, Hindu Munnani members held a protest demonstration condemning the railway administration and Mohan C. Lazarus. Meanwhile, in 34 villages surrounding Kurumbur, villagers from one village each day have been offering garlands at the spot where the Vinayagar idol stood, lighting camphor, breaking coconuts, and singing bhajans along with the recitation of Vinayagar Agaval.

With the number of Vinayagar devotees increasing day by day, worship has also intensified.
Meanwhile, Hindu Munnani members have approached the Union Railway Minister and are making efforts to set up a Vinayagar temple again with the department’s permission.
