DreadFish
Cosmic Vagabond
So, today in a Malaysian paper, I read an article titled the same as this post saying that many Hindus are upset over some posters of Jimi Hendrix depicted as a Hindu deity. The posters were sold at a recent book-fare in the area.
Now, the article does not mention that the posters in question are actually the album cover of the 1967 album, Axis: Bold as Love, so I take it that these people were not aware of the album's existence and thought that someone just put Jimi's head on the body of Vishnu to make a poster. Taking into account that these posters are of an album cover, it makes sense that they would be sold at a book-fare. For background: when the album was going to be released, Jimi said he wanted an album cover that showed his Indian ancestry. He meant his Native American ancestry, but this was misunderstood and the cover was made of him appearing like Vishnu on the cover.
The head of a local Hindu NGO (non-government organisation) said that the posters were an insult to the Hindu faith and have offended Hindus the world over and urged the company that sold them to issue a public apology.
So, my question is to the Hindus of our community: Do you find this offensive in any way? Is this really insulting to Hindus the world over? Or is this an overreaction, perhaps based on a misunderstanding, to an album cover that has been around since the '60s?
Now, the article does not mention that the posters in question are actually the album cover of the 1967 album, Axis: Bold as Love, so I take it that these people were not aware of the album's existence and thought that someone just put Jimi's head on the body of Vishnu to make a poster. Taking into account that these posters are of an album cover, it makes sense that they would be sold at a book-fare. For background: when the album was going to be released, Jimi said he wanted an album cover that showed his Indian ancestry. He meant his Native American ancestry, but this was misunderstood and the cover was made of him appearing like Vishnu on the cover.
The head of a local Hindu NGO (non-government organisation) said that the posters were an insult to the Hindu faith and have offended Hindus the world over and urged the company that sold them to issue a public apology.
So, my question is to the Hindus of our community: Do you find this offensive in any way? Is this really insulting to Hindus the world over? Or is this an overreaction, perhaps based on a misunderstanding, to an album cover that has been around since the '60s?