The Indian community in Singapore appears to be outraged after performers at the Loyang Vinayagar Temple performed raunchy song and dance numbers, on the occasion of Vinayaga Chathurthi – a Hindu religious festival – on 13 Sept 2018.
Performers sang and danced quite suggestively to two songs, in particular, that have riled many local Indians. Both songs refer to sex and are filled with sexual innuendos.
As the singers sing these suggestive songs, dancers perform raunchy dances to accompany the songs. One dancer in particular, red and blue outfit-clad Karagam dancer Ravi, stands out as he grinds and shakes his body vulgarly as he jives to the songs:
The reaction from the Indian community has been swift. Local Indians on social media and on messaging applications like WhatsApp have been circulating this video by a local Indian lady who sharply criticises the temple management for allowing such performances into the holy sanctum of the temple:
In the video, the local who speaks entirely in Tamil, castigates the temple management for allowing such raunchy numbers to be performed in the temple and said that such incidents bring disrepute to the Indian community.
Asserting that such events desecrate the values of Indian culture and will be a bad influence to the younger generation, the lady brought up a case from earlier this year in which another performer danced to a raunchy number at another Hindu temple.
In that case, that occurred at the Sri Arasakesari Sivan Temple at 25 Sungei Kadut Ave in Feb this year, a female performer danced to a song called “1234, get on the dance floor”. The lyrics of the song are particularly vulgar and includes inappropriate lines like “my body is waiting for you” and “booty shake”.
The performance irked devotees, especially since the dance was performed on the night of Maha Shivaratri – a major festival in Hinduism that was observed yesterday, during which ardent devotees stay awake all night, visit temples and fast as they commemorate the solemn festival that symbolises the overcoming of ignorance and darkness in life and the world.
Referring to this older case, the lady who spoke out against the latest performances at the Loyang Hindu temple said that she called the management of Sri Arasakesari Temple earlier this year to ask why they had allowed performers to perform raunchy numbers and that the temple management defiantly responded that they will do as they please.
Opining that it is not difficult to find performers to perform devotional numbers, the lady proceeded to call on the Indian ministers in Parliament to take action.
She said, “I appeal to our Indian ministers to look into this matter, to put restrictions on such songs to be played in the temples because we have our values to follow. We want our values to be carried to another thousand years to come. We may be gone by then but look at our upcoming generation, they would want to follow.”
She added, “This is really, really upsetting.”
https://theindependent.sg.sg/raunchy-dance-number-performed-at-hindu-temple-sparks-fresh-criticism-against-heb/