In a tense showdown at Sabarimala, about 200 devotees on Tuesday tried to prevent a woman from entering the hilltop shrine suspecting her to be of the menstrual age and allegedly attacked a cameraman of a Malayalam television news channel.

Ignoring prohibitory orders, devotees and right wing activists gathered in huge numbers at the Sannidhanam, the shrine complex, following which a senior state RSS leader addressed them using a microphone to bring the situation under control.