Perturbed Hindus ask for photo removal from Helsin

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Perturbed Hindus ask for photo removal from Helsinki museum, calling it hurtful

Perturbed Hindus have demanded immediate removal of photograph titled "Hinduism: The Night of Pushkar 2" from Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki (Finland), alleging it to be very disrespectful, hurting and irreverent.

Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that Pushkar was highly revered in Hinduism and showing frontal male nudity to represent Hinduism and Pushkar was very disturbing. Exhibition, which included this photograph, was claimed to be "the major world religions seen through the eyes of the media artist", and the artist apparently saw Hinduism and Pushkar in a naked male with a hanging penis.

Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, said that in addition to immediate removal of this photograph, artist Marita Liulia, Kiasma Director Brendt Arell, Director General of the Finnish National Gallery Risto Ruohonen, and Finland Minister of Education Henna Virkkunen, should issue public apology for this denigration. Kiasma is a unit of Finnish National Gallery, a public body under Finland Ministry of Education.

Hinduism was the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion adherents and rich philosophical thought and it should not be taken lightly, Rajan Zed stressed.

This photograph (50X70 cm) on aluminum showing a naked man sitting on a wall is currently showing as a part of Marita Liulia's "Choosing My Religion" multimedia exhibition (from February 13 to April 19), which claims to view the major religions of the world from multiple perspectives. Liulia's 72 art pieces juxtapose Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Sikhism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shinto, and Animism. The exhibition is said to be a visual and experiential whole comprising photographs, paintings, objects and media works. This exhibition will later travel to Tampere, Turku and Vaasa cities in Finland.

Sacred town of Pushkar (Rajasthan, India), on the shores of sacred Pushkar lake, dating back to fourth century BCE, is associated with Hindu Lord Brahma (God of creation), sages Visvamitra and Parasara, bhagat Prahlada, apsara Menaka, etc. It houses a 14th century Brahma temple, only one of its kind in the world, and finds mention in Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, Vamana Purana, Abhigyan Sakuntalam, etc. Large number of pilgrims flock to it on/around Kartik Purnima to take a dip. The area has other important Hindu temples also, including Savitri, Varah, Mahadev, Ramavaikunth, etc.

Finnish National Gallery, largest art museum organization in Finland, had 355,800 visitors in 2007 and its costs that year were 21.4 million Euros. Internationally acclaimed Kiasma is the most popular museum in Finland, where "people, ideas and ideologies meet and mingle". Award winning Marita Liulia is a versatile visual artist and a pioneer of interactive multimedia, whose works have been exhibited and performed in over 40 countries.

ENDS

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