Ashwin Krushnapaksha Ashtami, Kaliyug Varsha 5116
Udipi Café, an Indian restaurant based in Houston, Texas has used pictures of Shrikrushna on their business cards, menus and on advertising posters. (Please refer to: www.udipicafeusa.com) Recently, when a devout Hindu dining at the Cafe approached the owner of Udipi Café, Mr. Satish Rao to explain to him how it is a denigration to print pictures of Deities on business cards, menus, etc., the owner disagreed and argued that other restaurants are doing much worse. The devout Hindu then approached Hindu Janajagruti Samiti regarding this denigration. Accordingly, Hindu Janajagruti Samiti wrote to Udipi Cafe, but there has been no response from them. (The letter explaining the denigration is published later on this page.)
It is incorrect to print images of a Deity for commercial purposes. Even if one prints the image of a Deity on business cards, etc. due to their faith in that Deity, still it amounts to denigration of the Deity. If others are denigrating Deities, it does not mean that we too, should do the same. As Hindus, it is our duty to educate others about denigration of Deities.
Devout Hindus are registering their lawful protests on the following contacts :Address : Udipi Cafe, Satish Rao |
Use of Shrikrushna’s image on the menu of Udipi cafe, leading to denigration
We now appeal to you as devout Hindus to protest lawfully and peacefully against this denigration and to request the owner of the Udipi café, Mr. Satish Rao to stop this denigration.
Correspondence between HJS and the owner of the Udipi Café:
Email from Hindu Janajagruti Samiti
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|| Shree || Namaskar dear Shree.Satish Rao. We, at Hindu JanajagrutiSamiti have received some complaints from Hindus regarding use of Shreekrushna images by Udipi Café on its business cards, food menu pamphlets and advertising posters. (The complaint email we have received is included at the end of this letter.) We are sending this request letter to you to discuss about the printed images of the most revered Hindu Deity, Shrikrushna on your business cards, food menu pamphlets and advertising posters. This was brought to our attention by concerned Hindus. We commend you for your effort to spread the Hindu sattvik way of life through your pure vegetarian Indian cuisine and for your devotion to Shrikrushna, but the means of the advertising that are being used are causing a denigration of Hinduism. Business cards, food menu cards and advertising posters have a relatively short life and utility. When the advertising posters, menu cards or business cards are no longer used or become soiled or torn, they will be discarded or thrown into trash. Thus, the sanctity of the Deity images will not be maintained and preserved during these practices. Hindus treat their Deities with utmost respect. Deities are adorned on an altar to worship and offer prayers, thus having their images anywhere else like on business cards, food menu cards and on advertising posters is denigrating Hinduism and hurting feelings of millions of Hindus across the world. In your reply to the devout Hindu (the complaint emailer), you have mentioned that there is no issue of denigration and you are also not open to any suggestions. You also try to defend your position by saying other restaurants are doing things much worse than what you are doing and hence you don’t see it as denigration. We urge you to consider the above points and remove images of Shreekrushna from your business cards, food menu cards and advertising posters. We stress that our aim in bringing up these points is to educate and ensure that 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 Hinduism does not get disrespected by removing the images of Shrikrushna from advertising paraphernalia and other related items as mentioned above. Sincerely, |
The complaint we have received from a Hindu, who came to your Udipi Café :
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To whom it may concern, I had gone to one restaurant called Udipi Cafe and noticed that they were using images of Lord Krushna for advertising and on their menu cards. I tried to explain to the manager, Mr. Satish Rao how this denigrates Lord Shrikrushna since we are using His image for advertising and further food may fall on the menu cards. Mr. Rao was not open to any suggestions and he instead tried to justify his position by saying other restaurants are doing things much worse than what he is doing. When I asked him to name the restaurants, he refused. As Mr. Rao was not willing to listen no matter how much I tried to explain, I am sending this information to you. I am a devotee of Lord Krishna and it hurts me to see such misuse and misrepresentation of Him. Please help him to see reason. Regards. |
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