The Madras High Court has dismissed a public interest litigation petition seeking to restore the original structure of the house at Tiruvaiyaru where saint-composer Thyagaraja lived in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Pointing out that the petitioner approached the court after the structure was demolished and the construction of a new building was half way through, the First Bench of Chief Justice A.P. Shah and Justice K. Chandru dismissed the petition filed by Macherla Diwakar. A vacation Bench had stayed further construction in May earlier this year.

The petitioner said the house at 31, Thirumanjana Veedhi at Tiruvaiyaru was specially built and gifted to the saint's father by Maratha King Tulajaji II.

Thyagaraja lived his entire life in the house, and most of his kritis were composed there.

The petitioner described the place as a pilgrim centre for Carnatic musicians all over the world. In its "over-enthusiasm" to build a memorial, the Tiruvaiyaru-based Thyagabrahma Mahotsava Sabha had razed the building. If a new, modern memorial was allowed to be built, the younger generation would not have any idea of the way the saint lived his life, he said.