IT’S not only Jesus and Mary who make appearances on unlikely objects, as a report this week from Malaysia indicates.
A while back, an image of the Hindu elephant god Ganesha (may peanuts be upon him) manifested itself on a tree adjacent to a Chinese restaurant in Taman Sri Selayang, and began attracting a steady stream of devotees and curious onlookers.
Lord Ganesha
The tree then developed into a mini shrine with devotees bringing flower garlands and offerings of milk.
Apparently Lord Ganesha’s divine arboreal appearance had been preceded by a dream in which the god had appeared to the restaurant owner, who then began praying daily to the image on the tree. Others then followed suit.
But then along came a sacrilegious team of enforcement officers from the Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) – and one of them proceeded to hack off the image with a parang, much to the shock of the lunchtime crowd.
This, not surprisingly, caused outrage among local Hindus, who staged a protest which led to the suspension of the vandal, identified only as Zaidin.
MPS councillor R Gopalan Krishnan said that no directive had been issued by the council for the removal of the image.
He acted on his own and has accepted responsibility. We have suspended him pending an inquiry. We will forward a report on this matter to state executive councillor Dr Xavier Jayakumar.
Hat tip: Anti.Relon
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