America
Louisiana ball apologizes to dismayed Hindus over parading of Hindu gods
The Ladies’ Krewe of Galatea, which held a ball and tableau in Morgan City in Louisiana on January 23, has apologized to the dismayed Hindus who called the reported parading of Hindu deities in it as highly inappropriate.
Helen Solar, Captain of the Krewe of
Galatea, in an email to Hindu statesman Rajan Zed today, wrote: “If you or any
member of the Hindu religion or any Indian are offended at our “Travel to
India,†we assure you that nothing we presented was intended to offend and do
apologize if we led anyone to that interpretation.â€
Solar also wrote: “I was greatly
saddened and dismayed to read this morning that Hindus were, themselves,
dismayed at the Krewe of Galatea Ball Masqueâ€â€¦â€œin no way intended to trivialize
one of the world’s oldest, greatest, and most revered religionsâ€â€¦â€œThe entire
Ball Masque was intended to be a fantasy voyageâ€â€¦â€œWhile I as Captain of the Krewe
of Galatea certainly understand that you object, as you should, to the
trivializing of any Hindu belief, I assure you that our Krewe agreesâ€.
Zed, who is President of Universal
Society of Hinduism and who spearheaded the protest urging a formal apology, in
a statement in Nevada today, thanked Solar and Krewe of Galatea for showing
maturity and responsibility, understanding the feelings of Hindu community and
apologizing.
Rajan Zed pointed out that Hindus
understood that the purpose of Krewe of Galatea in this case apparently was not
to denigrate Hinduism, but casual flirting sometimes resulted in pillaging
serious spiritual doctrines and revered symbols and hurting the devotees. There
were certain convictions in every tradition, which were venerable and not meant
to be taken lightly.
According to reports, The Ladies’
Krewe of Galatea held its 47th annual ball and tableau at the Morgan City
Municipal Auditorium, in which Queen Galatea XLVII was shown as Shakti (divine
power manifested as Goddess), the King posed as Brahma (the creator God),
captain presented as Vishnu (the preserver God); and other members of the court
were exhibited as Hindu deities Lakshmi (Goddess of good fortune), Krishna
(Vishnu’s avatar), Parvati (Shiva’s consort), Murugan (God of youth & war),
Kali (Goddess of time & change), Hanuman (powerful deity hero of Ramayana),
Saraswati (Goddess of knowledge) and Surya (the sun God). The
board-of-directors/officers, who led the Krewe, were stated as Vedas (oldest
Hinduism texts). The parade lieutenant was a ‘Snake Charmer’, who led the
participants at dance.
Zed had said that Hindu deities were highly revered in Hinduism and were meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to be trivialized in balls and tableaus. Inappropriate usage of Hindu deities or concepts for entertainment and other agendas was not okay as it hurt the devotees.
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 had noted.
Zed had also indicated that 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 were
disturbing for the followers.
Reports suggested that at this event
Lakshmi was escorted by Krishna, Parvati was escorted by Murugan, Kali was
escorted by Hanuman and Saraswati was on Surya’s arm—which were inconsistent of
Hindu scriptures and were highly improper, Rajan Zed had stated.
The Krewe of Galatea will reportedly
organize a parade on February seven afternoon and Zed hoped that they did not
pose as Hindu deities.