Madhu Patel
CHICAGO: Indian Americans at large are upset at singer-actress-businesswoman Rihanna for wearing Lord Ganesha pendant (on a long necklace) covering her belly-button and posted on her official Twitter handle on February 15,2021calling it highly disgusting.
Rajan Zed, a front ranking activists in a statement said that Lord Ganesh is highly revered in Hinduism meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to be used as a fashion outlet to push a sexy lingerie line or become a tool for sexy fashion. 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, he said.
He emphasized that celebrities and companies should not be in the business of religious appropriation, sacrilege, and ridiculing entire communities. It was deeply trivializing of immensely venerated Lord Ganesha to be displayed in such a manner for mercantile greed. He urged Rihanna to immediately remove the objectionable picture from her Twitter account.
Many devotees did wear a Lord Ganesha pendant on short necklace on a regular basis to express their reverence/devotion in Lord Ganesha; but wearing it as a fashion accessory in a one-time photo-shoot in this disrespectful manner for commercial agenda was quite out of line; Rajan Zed indicated.
In Hinduism, Lord Ganesha is worshipped as god of wisdom and remover of obstacles and is invoked before the beginning of any major undertaking. There are about three million Hindus in USA. February 15 happened to be Ganesha Jayanti (Ganesha’s birthday).
Thank You For Your Vote!
Sorry You have Already Voted!
