A massive protest by devotees of Lord Ayyappa broke out near the Sabarimala Sannidhanam Saturday following rumours that a woman from Tamil Nadu below 50 years of age climbed the hills to offer prayers to the presiding deity.

The situation turned tense in the area, where section 144 was clamped, as devotees gathered in large numbers at ‘Valiya Nadapandhal’ to protest against the woman’s entry into the temple.

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However, the tension was defused after the woman, who had come with her family members, showed her identity papers with her date of birth mentioned in it.

The woman carrying ‘irumudikkettu’ (holy bundle) climbed the 18 holy steps amid security cover to reach the temple and had ‘darshan’.

Meanwhile, Pathanamthitta District Collector P B Nooh said there was no tension at Sannidhanam.

“A woman came for darshan. Some news channels followed her…Then a crowd gathered…That was the only issue,” he said.

The collector also dismissed as “rumours” reports that some young women were planning to trek the hills to reach the shrine.

“There were some rumours (spread) through social media. We verified them…There is no confirmed report (on young women visiting the shrine) so far,” Nooh said.

The Sabarimala temple complex had witnessed high drama and tense moments Friday after two women made an attempt to make a trek to the Sabarimala temple.

The women – a journalist of Hyderabad-based Mojo TV and a woman activist, were escorted by about 300 policemen in riot gear on their way up the holy hill.

Read | Sabarimala temple case | 2 women try entry, fail, return after priests threaten to stop rituals

However, their efforts failed as they were forced to abandon the trek and return back after the Tantri (priest) threatened to stop the rituals and close the doors of the shrine if the two women managed to enter the temple. They were just 500 metres short of the 18 steps.

A third woman too tried but failed after she was denied protection by the police.

The women’s attempt to reach the shrine came a day after a New Delhi-based woman reporter of a foreign media outlet made a failed bid to visit the temple.

The Supreme Court, last month, had struck down a rule that disallowed girls and women in the age group of 10-50 years from entering the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.

(With PTI inputs)