An investigation has been launched into the removal of female staff from the Eiffel Tower during a visit by a Hindu religious group.
The decision to remove staff members has been widely condemned and even led to an employee strike and the subsequent closure of the monument one day.
The Hindu group, which is close to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling conservative Hindu nationalist party, apologized for any “inconvenience.”
Eiffel Tower operator SETE acknowledged that the Hindu delegation had asked to organize Saturday’s visit to limit “interactions with women” and said “these conditions should not have been accepted.”
Paris Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire announced two investigations into the incident, calling the decision to sideline female staff “absurd, unjust and unacceptable.”
The city of Paris, which owns “99 percent” of the monument, will conduct one investigation, he added, while SETE will conduct a separate internal investigation with an outside consultant.
When asked who gave the order, Gregoire said he was starting to get “some information” but declined to elaborate.
“I’ll leave it to the investigation,” he said.
Hindu monks take part in a religious ceremony in front of the Eiffel Tower before a ceremonial river parade on the Seine River in Paris on September 3, 2026
Members of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) Hindu community wave an Indian flag during a religious ceremony in front of the Eiffel Tower on September 3
The monument was closed on Monday, when SETE said there was a meeting between staff and management.
The spiritual movement Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) apologized for “any pain or inconvenience caused” by the incident.
“To our knowledge, at no time has anyone been denied access to the Eiffel Tower,” the organization wrote on X.
“Due to the size of our delegation, the visit was organized in collaboration with the Eiffel Tower team at the start of normal opening hours to avoid disturbing or bothering others.”
During the delegation’s visit, Eiffel Tower staff condemned “professional instructions that led to female employees being sidelined, replaced and made invisible because of their gender.”
“Instructions were given to female employees of the Eiffel Tower and to female employees of contractors to make themselves invisible to welcome this delegation,” staff said in a statement, adding that they were shocked to have found themselves in such a situation.
“Some were asked to leave their posts and withdraw to other areas. In some posts they were replaced by men. And all female employees were instructed not to enter or cross certain areas while the delegation was present.”
BAPS had opened its first major temple in France on Sunday, near Paris.
The organization’s spiritual leader, Mahant Swami Maharaj, 93, dedicated it himself.
The BAPS organization claims a global network of more than 1,300 temples, some of which were inaugurated by Modi himself.
French Minister for Gender Equality, Aurore Berge, expressed outrage after the Eiffel Tower incident.
“In France we don’t ask women to erase themselves,” she said.
Candidates for next year’s presidential elections also participated.
Far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen also criticized the incident, saying France would “never accept that the presence of women is ‘limited’.”
Gabriel Attal, a centrist rival who wants to become head of state, said: “In France, no culture, no creed, no religion, nothing and no one can come and dictate to women what their place should be.”
