The Eiffel Tower reopened on Tuesday after staff ended a walkout triggered by allegations that female employees were asked to step aside during a visit by a Hindu religious group.

Visitors were passing through security checkpoints at the landmark shortly before 9:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday. The Eiffel Tower’s website also confirmed that the monument was open.

The tower was closed on Monday, September 7, after employees went on strike over instructions reportedly given during Saturday’s visit by the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), a global Hindu organisation headquartered in Ahmedabad, India.

Staff said female employees were sidelined, replaced and told not to enter certain areas while the delegation was at the monument.

The tower’s operating company, SETE, acknowledged that the delegation had made the request but said such conditions were unacceptable and inconsistent with the Eiffel Tower’s commitment to gender equality.

France’s Minister for Gender Equality and the Fight Against Discrimination, Aurore Bergé, described the alleged incident as “unacceptable.”

“In France, gender equality is neither negotiable nor subject to varying standards. It is a principle, and there are no exceptions to it,” Bergé wrote on X.

BAPS later apologised over the incident, while thousands of Hindu devotees associated with the organisation have taken part in events and processions across France in recent days, according to the group’s website.