Hindu festivals are increasingly being turned into a playground for provocative advertising, with Hindu deities being dragged into non-vegetarian food promotions in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. From Krishna being placed alongside chicken during Vishu to Ganesha being used to sell chicken biryani during Vinayagar Chaturthi, the message is hard to miss: when it comes to Hindu religious imagery, apparently anything goes in the name of advertising.
During Vishu in Kerala, posters from multiple restaurants showed Lord Krishna alongside chicken, biryani and other non-vegetarian dishes. Months later, ahead of Vinayagar Chaturthi in Tamil Nadu, a Tirunelveli biryani shop displayed a banner depicting Lord Vinayagar cooking chicken biryani.
The two incidents, though separated by geography, followed a strikingly similar template: a Hindu deity, a Hindu festival and non-vegetarian food brought together in a commercial advertisement.
Vishu Poster Incident
In Kerala, the controversy first erupted over a Vishu greeting poster from Mehr Mandi & Grills in Cherthala, Alappuzha. The poster featured Lord Krishna alongside a mandi rice and grilled chicken dish. The advertisement triggered protests and widespread criticism from Hindus who objected to the use of a revered deity to promote meat-based food during Vishu.
The controversy did not remain confined to one restaurant.
Similar Vishu-themed posters subsequently surfaced from other establishments, including Go Grill Mandi Mahal Hotel in Erattupetta, Mandi Manzil Hotel Group, which has outlets in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Alappuzha, and Thalassery Kitchen in Kozhikode.
In several of these posters, Lord Krishna was placed directly alongside or in close visual association with biryani, fried chicken and other meat dishes.
The repeated appearance of similar imagery across different restaurants led to questions over whether these were merely independent design choices or whether there was a wider pattern behind the promotions.
Mehr Mandi & Grills apologised following the backlash and blamed an external designer. The management said the poster had been designed by an outsourced person without its knowledge and claimed that it was removed after they became aware of the controversy.
But that explanation has not ended the questions. If the imagery was simply a designer’s mistake, how did similar Krishna-and-meat advertisements appear across multiple establishments during the same festival period?
The issue takes on another dimension when viewed alongside the controversy in Tamil Nadu.
Ahead of Vinayagar Chaturthi, a non-vegetarian restaurant on Thoothukudi Road in Tirunelveli put up a promotional banner advertising “Arabic-style Chicken 65 Biryani” for ₹99. The banner featured an image of Lord Vinayagar cooking chicken biryani.
The banner triggered protests by Hindu Munnani members, following which Tirunelveli City Police removed it. A complaint was subsequently filed alleging that the advertisement was intended to insult a Hindu deity and hurt religious sentiments.
Police registered a case and arrested the 30-year-old shop owner, Jayanth.
The Kerala and Tamil Nadu incidents point to a disturbing pattern: Hindu deities repeatedly being used alongside non-vegetarian food to market products during Hindu festivals.
One incident may be dismissed as a mistake. Repeated incidents across festivals are harder to brush aside as mere coincidence.
The question is also simple: would businesses show the same disregard for religious sensitivities when advertising during Eid or Christmas?
Hindus, meanwhile, are often expected to shrug, laugh it off and say, “It’s okay.” That attitude only makes such marketing easier to repeat.
Commercial creativity has its limits. Using sacred figures to sell food during their festivals is not beyond criticism simply because it is called advertising.
Krishna with chicken during Vishu. Ganesha with chicken biryani during Vinayagar Chaturthi. How many more such “mistakes” before the pattern itself is acknowledged?
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