Madhu Patel
CHICAGO: A large group of Indian Americans representing three million Hindus in USA have strongly asked Encinitas (California) based apparel company Third Eye Threads for immediate withdrawal of “Devil Ganesh” T-shirts carrying image of Hindu deity Lord Ganesh with tail and horns dubbing it highly offensive
Their contention is that Lord Ganesh is greatly revered in Hinduism meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines. It was hugely painful for devotees to see him misrepresented and paraded around on T-shirts as devil.
There is simply no connection/commonality between Lord Ganesh worshipped as God of remover of obstacles, and devil, wicked, malevolent, said RajanZed, President of Universal Society of Hinduism, who I s in the fore front of the protest against unwholesome description. .
Rajan urged Third Eye Threads and its CEO to offer a formal apology; besides withdrawing “Devil Ganesh” tanks and raglans from their website and resellers’ websites/stores.
Apparel companies should not be in the business of religious appropriation, sacrilege, and ridiculing entire communities, and using inappropriately reimagined versions of sacred Hindu deities or concepts or symbols or icons for commercial or other agenda. It was deeply trivializing of immensely venerated Lord Ganesh to be displayed as devil, Zed pointed out.
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.
Description of “Devil Ganesh” tank (priced at $39) and raglan (priced at $40) included “Wear it proudly”. Third Eye Threads, whose tagline is “crystal vibration infused”, claims to be “a crystal-infused, enlightened apparel company” which designs “higher conscious images” and whose “customers are healthy, vibrant, people that want to raise their vibration”.
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