Upset Hindus are urging Pixers, Łódź (Poland) based home‑decor company, for immediate withdrawal of bathroom-mats carrying images of various Hindu deities; calling it highly inappropriate.
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that Hindu deities Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesha, Krishna, Durga, Hanuman, Rama, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kali, etc.; whose images were depicted on bathroom-mats selling at Pixers website; were highly revered in Hinduism and were meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not for soaking-up dirty water of bathroom, acting as a cushion for standing on it, trapping moisture and dirt, stepping on, keeping bathroom and feet clean, covering worn or damaged sections of flooring, enhancing bathroom décor, sometimes sharing space with the toilet, etc.
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; Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, indicated.
Rajan Zed also urged Pixers to offer a formal apology; besides withdrawing bathroom-mats depicting images of Hindu deities.
Hinduism was 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, Zed noted.
Rajan Zed further said that such trivialization of Hindu deities was disturbing to the Hindus world over. 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 followers, Zed added.
Dimensions of bathroom-mats selling at Pixers website, are mostly 60 x 40 cm, and these mostly start from $49. Tagline of Pixers is: we live to change.
Łódź, in central Poland, is the country’s fourth largest city. It is known as UNESCO City of Film and is famous for its huge murals.