Viral / Brazil brand stops making shorts with image of Ganesha after envoy's call

Brasilia: A Brazilian fashion clothes brand has removed ads for its line of shorts for men and women that used an image of Lord Ganesha, in response to complaints of sacrilege.

The Jon Cotre brand based in Sao Paulo state said the ads were removed from its website and it stopped making the shorts.

"I apologise on behalf of the company for what happened. Our intention was never to 'trivialise' or offend," a spokeswoman for the firm said.

India's ambassador in Brazil, Suresh Reddy, spoke to the company's owner Jon Cotre to explain the sensitivities related to using images of Lord Ganesha, the embassy said.

Cotre immediately agreed to remove the images and material from his stores, the embassy said in a statement.

A Hindu cleric based in the United States, Rajan Zed, had criticised the inappropriate commercial use of Lord Ganesha images, complaining about "religious appropriation, sacrilege and ridiculing entire communities."