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The Conversation
The Conversation
Bhakti Mamtora, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, University of Arizona

What the Eiffel Tower controversy reveals about a Hindu monastic practice – known as ‘brahmacharya’

Eiffel Tower BAPS Hindu Kenzo Tribouillard SETE CNN
Monks from Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, a Hindu group, take part in a religious ceremony in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris on Sept. 3, 2026. Kenzo Tribouillard / AFP via Getty Images

A visit to the Eiffel Tower by a delegation of monks representing a global Hindu religious denomination on Sept. 5, 2026, has raised broader questions about accommodating religious observances in public spaces.

Eiffel Tower workers protested with a one-day strike after tower management allegedly replaced some women employees for the duration of a 20-minute visit by monks from the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, or BAPS.

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