Upset Hindus are urging Ensenada (Baja California, Mexico) based 8-Bit Brewers to apologize and withdraw its Ganesh IPA beer; calling it highly inappropriate.8-Bit’s Cerveza Premium IPA Ganesh beer bottle carries an image of Hindu deity Lord Ganesh.Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that inappropriate usage of Hindu deities or concepts or symbols for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees.
Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, indicated that Lord Ganesh was highly revered in Hinduism and was meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to be used in selling beer for mercantile greed. Moreover, linking a Hindu deity with an alcoholic beverage was very disrespectful, Zed added.
Hinduism was the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one 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, Rajan Zed noted.In Hinduism, Lord Ganesh is worshipped as god of wisdom and remover of obstacles and is invoked before the beginning of any major undertaking.
Translated version of 8-Bit Brewers website states: “…craft beer that represents the forgotten foundations of a globalized brewing industry…we believe in the creativity, strength and passion…”. Its Mission includes “Open your mind to new ideas” and its tagline seems to be “Born to beer wild!” Its other beers include Senorita.Ensenada, a coastal city founded in 1542 and now a popular cruise ship destination, is about 84 miles south of San Diego and is affectionately called La Cenicienta del Pacífico “The Cinderella of the Pacific”. Marco A. Novelo Osuna is Presidente Municipal.