British brand urged to withdraw £850 Lord Hanuman perfume

Madhu Patel

CHICAGO: Upset Indians urged iconic British brand “Boadicea the Victorious”, selling luxury unisex fragrances, to immediately withdraw perfume named after deity Hanuman; calling it highly inappropriate.

They maintain that any inappropriate usage of sacred Hindu deities or concepts or symbols or icons for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees.

RajanZed, president of Universal Society of Hinduism, indicated that Lord Hanuman is  highly revered in Hinduism and he was meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to be thrown around inappropriately for mercantile greed.

Luxury fragrance brands should not be trivializing immensely venerated Hindu deity Lord Hanuman portraying on a perfume label.

Hinduism is the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about 1.2 billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought and it should not be taken frivolously. Symbols of any faith, larger or smaller, should not be mishandled; Rajan noted.

In Hinduism, Lord Hanuman is known for incredible strength and was a perfect grammarian.

Bottle of Hanuman perfume, described on the company website as a “scent full of mischievous intent”, was priced at £850 (100ml).

Fragrances of one of the most expensive perfume labels in the world, “Boadicea the Victorious”, are said to be available at a selection of 107 boutique perfumeries and luxury department stores around the world; including in United Kingdom (UK), France, Italy, Germany, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Nigeria, Iraq, Sri Lanka, etc. Its partners include UK luxury department stores Harrods and Selfridges, TSUM Moscow, French department store chain Printemps. It has a boutique in Harrods London, titled “Salon de Parfums”.  Launched in 2008, it describes itself as: “inspired by Queen Broadicea and her legendary exploits at the head of the Iceni tribes-people”; and claims its “fragrances are worn by Michelle Obama, Kate Moss, Madonna, Amber Rose…”.