On August 27th, 2014, concerned Hindus notified Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) regarding the denigration of the Hindu Deity Shri Ganesh happening through sale of artistic idols on the web pages of www.ganeshmall.com.
Upon reviewing the web pages, the HJS protest team wrote a protest letter addressed to the Customer Support team of Ganesh Mall. The letter explained the denigration that is happening and how sometimes statues displayed artistically actually denigrate Shri Ganesh, which defeats the purpose of spreading information about Shri Ganesh. The letter also stated that when sculpting Hindu Deities, it is important for the artist to consider the Hindu scriptural description of the Deity. In addition to this, the protest letter also described specific Shri Ganesh statues as examples of those trivialized and not in accordance with the Hindu shaastra to support above the point.
The HJS protest team has still not received a response from the Ganesh Mall team in spite of sending reminders.
Consequently, Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) now appeals all readers to protest against this inappropriate representation of Shri Ganesh, peacefully and lawfully by either writing an email or calling the number below:
Email: [email protected]
Or,
Tel: 00-1-855-283-1190
See below the protest letters written by Hindu Janajagruti Samiti
From: HJS Protest Team
Date: Sat, Oct 11, 2014 at 2:37 PM
Subject: Complaints about artistic statues of Shri Ganesh at your online store
|| Shree ||
Namaskar.
We at Hindu Janajagruti Samiti have received some complaints from Hindus regarding selling of Shri Ganesh statues on your website www.ganeshmall.com.
Hindu Janajagruti Samiti is a registered NGO in India doing social, Hindu Dharma related and national welfare work. The Samiti is also active throughout the world, educating people about Hindu Dharma in a scientific way, campaigning against malpractices done as Hindu Dharma related practices and solving problems related to misrepresentation of Hindu Dharma. For further details please refer to our website www.HinduJagruti.org.
We are sending this request letter to you to discuss about the sale of the revered Hindu Deity, Shri Ganesh’s statues on your website. This was brought to our attention by concerned Hindus. We commend you for your goal to promote useful information about Shri Ganesh on your website as well as your ‘Ganesh blog’. Such information will be definitely useful for devotees of Shri Ganesh. However, we would like to bring to your attention that some of the statues of Shri Ganesh on your website and blog are not in accordance with the shaastra (Hinduism’s spiritual science). Some statues actually denigrate Shri Ganesh, which defeats the purpose of spreading the information about Shri Ganesh. Following are some examples (the item #s for which are described here from your website):
In some of the statues, Shri Ganesh is depicted holding a goad in both of His hands and the goad are touching His head, which is objectionable to Hindus because Shri Ganesh does not hold the goad like the statue shows. In fact, one would not hold a weapon to their own head.
Item No.AKG0028- Black Soap Stone Ganesh Statue
Item No.AKG002-6- Black Soap Stone Ganesh Statue, 6 Inch
Item No. AKG002-8- Black Soap Stone Ganesh Statue, 8 Inch
Item No. DM1042- Green Stone Ganesh Statue in Red Velvet Box
Some of the statues are made in materials like resin, which does not attract the divine principle of Shri Ganesh. Thus, the buyer would not be able to derive its benefits.
Item No.MD1069- Cream Resin Ganesh Statue on Throne
Item No.GIWW3513- Antique Gold Finish Ganesh Statue on a Mouse Throne
Item No.CWA-SYA913- Auspicious Ganesh Statue in White and Yellow
Item No.SI-POBGA4- Baby Ganesh Statue
Item No.APP500- Bal Ganesh with Mouse Large Statue
Item No.MT-ST008-FR- Ganesh Statue Reclining
Item No.CWA-792G- Ganesh Statue with Auspicious Red Highlights
Item No.SIPOBGA9- Ganesh Statue, 9 Inches
Item No.CWA-SYA295- Ganesha Statue, Brightly Colored Hindu Deity
Item No.RV1003- Large Guru Ganesh Statue
Item No.ES-AK72- Red and Gold Finish Ganesh Statue
Item No.ES-AK71- Red and Gold Finish Seated Ganesh Statue
Item No.MDGMARGS- Semi Abstract Artistic Ganesh Statue
In some statues, it is shown that Shri Ganesh is playing drums or sitar, which is actually denigration.
Item No.MSG-2028-Outdoor Ganesh Statue Playing Drums
Item No. MSG-2030- Garden Ganesh Statue Playing Sitar
Some statues are shown with lot of design, ear pierced, variety of colors, etc., which is not in accordance with the shaastra.
Item No.MD-810- Colorful Brass Ganesh Statue
Item No.MDMAR01AZ-Exquisitely Hand Painted Marble Ganesh Statue with Kundan Stones
Item No.MDMAR07- Marble Ganesh Statue on a Floral Tray
In some statues Shri Ganesh is shown as a baby, reading a book, which is trivialization of Shri Ganesh.
Item No.TLT-3287- Baby Ganesh Statue, Reading
Some statues are shown with disproportionate anatomy of Shri Ganesh. It is like making a cartoon or caricature of Shri Ganesh, which leads to denigration.
Item No.TM001- Modern Marble Ganesh Statue
Some statues are shown with head-scarf (pagadi) on Shri Ganesh’s head. It is not in accordance with shaastra and is trivialization of Shri Ganesh.
Item No.APP500- Bal Ganesh with Mouse Large Statue
Item No.TM001- Modern Marble Ganesh Statue
Shri Ganesh statues have been also shown in various postures like reclining, sliding ride, sitting on an elephant and Shivling, etc. This is also not in accordance with shaastra and is actually a denigration of Shri Ganesh as well as Lord Shiva.
Item No.TLT-3289- Reclining Ganesh Statue, Cold Cast Bronze
Item No.DT1028- Terra-cotta Ganesh Statue on Shivling
Item No.DT1051- Terra-Cotta Ganesha Statue on a Slide
Item No.DT1066- Terra-cotta Ganesh Statue on an Elephant
In this regard, the following points are noteworthy:
Anything which is in consonance with the scriptures proves to be ideal and beneficial. If the idol of Shri Ganesh is sculpted as per the science underlying the idol then those worshiping it are benefited. You can learn about the science underlying the Shri Ganesh idol at these links:
You have mentioned on your website that you have provided a creative platform for various artists to celebrate their freedom of expression through unique products that showcase their talent. However, when sculpting Hindus’ Deities, it is important for the artist to consider the Hindu scriptural description of the Deity and ideally, do it as saadhana (spiritual practice), since the Deities are adorned on an altar to worship and offer prayers. Showing them in an artistic manner trivializes Them. In the minds of the viewer, a fictional, trivial image of the Deities will form over a period of time and hence, it will obstruct the development of their faith in the Deities, which is most important in worshiping Deities and experiencing Their divine presence and blessings. Shri Ganesh is worshipped first in Hindus’ ritualistic pujas, as He is considered a Deity Who removes all obstacles. If He is denigrated, then how would He shower His grace and blessings!
We urge you to consider the above points and remove Shri Ganesh’s denigrating statues and the statues which are not in accordance with the Hindu shaastra from your website. We stress that our aim in bringing up these points is to educate and ensure that Shri Ganesh and Hinduism gets accurately represented to society. Hinduism has been misrepresented at many levels. Though it is an ancient tradition, Hinduism has a lot to offer the modern world and we want children and adults alike to be able to understand and study it without it being misrepresented. You can take one step towards ensuring that Shri Ganesh and Hinduism does not get disrespected by removing the denigrating statues of Shri Ganesh from your website and also stop selling spiritually incorrect statues of Shri Ganesh as mentioned above.
Sincerely,
Hindu Janajagruti Samiti
