Madonna's MTV Performance Offends Hindus

July 8, 2003

from The Chattanooga Times

The Chattanooga Times

September 14, 1998, Monday

SECTION: Entertainment; Pg. A2

LENGTH: 270 words

HEADLINE: People

BYLINE: Wires services

Madonna's MTV performance offends Hindus

LOS ANGELES -- Madonna has offended Catholics and fundamentalist Christians with her provocative use of Christian symbols in her music videos. Now, the Material Girl has angered Hindus.

Wearing a see-through blouse and a Hindu facial marking, Madonna performed her song Ray of Light at the MTV Music Video Awards last week.

"Madonna's MTV stage performance, which combined Eastern mysticism with Western hedonism, did not sit well with sincere Hindus, Vaishnavas and yoga practitioners around the globe," the World Vaishnava Association said in a statement.

During her performance, Madonna wore a "Vaishnava tilak," a holy facial marking that "undermined the principles of purity the markings represent," said Tusta Krishnadas, spokesman for the association, an umbrella group for the Vaishnava branch of Hinduism.

"By wearing this sacred marking while wearing clothing through which her nipples were clearly visible and while gyrating in a sexually suggestive manner with her guitar player, Madonna offended Hindus and Vaishnavas throughout the world," Krishnadas said, demanding an apology from Madonna and MTV.

Madonna received similar criticism from Christians several years ago over the use of religious symbolism in her Like a Prayer video.

[i have found similar stories in today's Boston Globe, Detroit News, and The Record (Bergen County, NJ). I have also received reports that the wire service story was reported on Television News programs -- Mrigendra das]