Upset Hindu groups have sought an apology and urged online retailer Amazon.com to immediately withdraw leggings carrying images of Hindu deity Lord Hanuman calling it highly inappropriate.
"Hanuman the Great" Women's Leggings are selling at Amazon.com for $48.00 - $58.00 and have been described as the "ultimate fashion statement to express your style."
Hindu groups have reached out to Amazon several times in the past to address what they felt was the trivialization of Hindu deities. On most occasions, they had been successful in persuading the online retailer company to remove such products from its website.
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed released a statement in Nevada saying "Lord Hanuman was greatly revered in Hinduism and was meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to adorn one's legs. Inappropriate usage of Hindu deities or concepts for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the faithful."
Zed, who is the President of Universal Society of Hinduism, also urged Amazon President Jeffrey P Bezos to "offer a formal apology, besides withdrawing Lord Hanuman leggings, as this was not the first time for the company to offer such products which were deemed offensive by Hindu devotees."
Zed noted that "Hinduism was the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about 1.1 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."
He further added that the trivialization of Hindu deities was disturbing to the Hindu community across the globe. "Hindus were for free artistic expression and speech as much as anybody else if not more. But faith was something sacred and attempts at trivializing it hurt the devotees," Zed said.
He suggested that "Amazon and other companies should send their senior executives for training in religious and cultural sensitivity so that they had an understanding of the feelings of customers and communities when introducing new products or launching advertising campaigns."
Lord Hanuman is known for his incredible strength and was a perfect grammarian.
