An American clothing company Miami Fitwear removed leggings carrying images of Lord Ganesha from its website after Hindus objected.

Hindus in the US found images of the deity on leggings highly disrespectful. Ganesha is revered in Hinduism and worshipped in temples or homes.

Miami Fitwear is an athleisure and lifestyle company. Its products include leggings, capris, pants. It claims to handcraft every legging. The now removed True Wisdom Ganesha leggings were priced at 98 dollars and its description included: “We hope our hand-drawn Ganesha leggings help you remember how beautifully strong and wise you are when you decided to use your energy in a positive way.”

There are about three million Hindus in the US. They said the lord can’t be adorned on legs and that inappropriate use of Hindu deities or concepts for commercial or other agenda was not okay. They suggested corporations send their senior executives for training in religious and cultural sensitivity so that they have an understanding of the feelings of customers and communities when introducing new products or launching advertising campaigns. They say Hindus are for free artistic expression and speech as much as anybody else if not more. But faith was something sacred.

Hinduism is among the oldest and the third largest religion of the world with about 1.1 billion adherents.