Hindu priests and religious groups had slammed the website, cafepress.com, for selling undergarments embellished with faces of several gods and goddesses, including the presiding deities of Jagannath temple, considered among the most sacred Hindu temples in India.

Besides writing to the US embassy in New Delhi, the state authorities also wrote to the federal Home Minister Shivraj Patil urging him to take up the issue with the US government, the Times of India daily reported.

“I, on the behalf of the government of Orissa, request you to take up the issue with the American governemnt for taking action against the website owner to refrain the company from such unholy activities,” Orissa’s law minister BB Harichandan said in his letter.

Posted on: 2007-12-22 14:31:36