Upset Hindus are urging Valdivia (Chile) based Cerveza Bundor craft brewery to apologize and retire its “Kali IPA” beer carrying the reimagined image of Hindu goddess Kali; calling it highly inappropriate.
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 goddess Kali 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.
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, Rajan Zed noted.
Goddess Kali, who personifies Sakti or divine energy, is widely worshipped in Hinduism. She is considered the goddess of time and change. Some Bengali poets described her as supreme deity. Moksh (liberation) is the ultimate goal of Hinduism.
Kali is an American IPA (India Pale Ale) with reportedly 6.5% ABV, 60% IBU and 6% SRM; and is described as having a tropical fruit character.
Beers made by Awards-winning Cerveza Bundor; whose history goes back to 2007 and whose mission includes “production of quality beers”; are sold at various places; reports suggest. Besides Kali, its other beers include Elfa, Ninfa, Troll, Belzeboo, Nessie.
