Pathanamthitta District Collector  PB Nooh on Tuesday night extended the prohibitory orders issued under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), banning assembly of four or more persons in Sabarimala, Nilackal, Pamba areas till December 8.

The latest move comes following reports filed by the police commissioner and other officials.   

"Prohibitory orders have been extended till December 8 after considering various reports filed by officials," Collector Nooh told PTI.

Prohibitory orders were in place till Tuesday night at Sabarimala and surrounding areas since the day the hilltop shrine was opened for the annual two-month-long Mandala-Makaravilkku pilgrimage season, which began on November 17.

The temple town and the nearby places witnessed large-scale protests started by various Hindu groups after the Supreme Court verdict that allowed women of all ages to enter the temple that hitherto banned girls and women aged 10-50.

Earlier on September 28, in a 4:1 verdict the five-member constitution bench, headed by the then Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra lifted the decade-old ban, paving the way for the entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala temple.

Since the September 28 verdict, large-scale protests and counter-protests have brought Kerala to a standstill.

The Left Democratic Front government led by the CPI-M has been trying to implement the apex court's verdict even as the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party, and several Hindu groups were up in arms against it.