Pathanamthitta: A group of people entered a Lord Ayyappa temple here on Sunday without removing their shirts, protesting against the long-standing practice that requires male devotees to do so before entering the shrine.

Visuals showed protesters - members of the SNDP Samyuktha Samara Samithi - forming a queue in front of the shrine in Perunadu managed by the Travancore Devaswom Board and offering prayers without removing their shirts.

The protest went off without incident, as neither the police nor the temple management objected.

The protesters later demanded a permanent end to the practice of requiring male devotees to remove their upper garments.