A god of booze and smokes

A deity is answering prayers in exchange for cigarettes and alcohol

NOW THAT’S a religion in tune with modern society.

Worshippers lay bottles of whiskey and cartons of smokes at the shrine of Lord Muneshwara , a Hindu god who hangs out in Karwar, Karnataka province.

This hardnosed deity has no truck with the traditional goody-goody offerings of flowers, fruit and sweetmeats that other gods like: that’s for divine wusses. And no veggie stuff. If you must bring food, he prefers choice cuts of meat. Roast mutton or chicken are his favorites.

The guys in my local coffee shop reckoned this was a MAJOR scam so that priests at Karwar temple could acquire free booze, fags and food.

But a Hindu guy at the table pointed out the flaw in this theory. “Worshippers are asked to hand over the whiskey and stuff only AFTER their wishes have been granted,” he said. “If Lord Muneshwara is growing in popularity, His methods must really work.”

The temple is now attracting followers from Goa and Maharashtra, according to Asian News International.
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I wonder if there is some sort of scale about what you have to pay?

A can of Carlsberg and a mostly full packet of Marlboro Kings may cover a small accident to your boss.

But you’d probably have to hand over a case of Martell Cognac and a carton of 200 Lucky Strike Non-Filter if the god grants you the power to walk on water and raise the dead.
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Minor Asian gods and their worshippers are an offbeat lot. I remember reporting on a Japanese counterfeiter who forged cash to give to the gods at a shrine in Ishikawa Prefecture in exchange for Divine Blessing on his activities. Were his gods flattered or insulted?
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Discussing this in a coffee shop, a young person was prompted to use his laptop to find an article on a related topic. The Rev. Canon David Parrott blessed mobile phones and laptops in London. In the past priests blessed workers’ tools, he explained.

The young man said, “This shows my parents are wrong to complain about my obsessions with tech stuff.”

I replied: “This guy is blessing gadgets. What you do is worship them.”
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But going back to the scene in India, I reckon the obvious step is for a sponsor to step in with some sort of endorsement deal for Lord Muneshwara.

For example, they could do billboard advertising.

“Drink Johnnie Walker Black Label. The drink of top deities.”

Heineken could make fun of its rival’s slogan:

“Carlsberg is probably the best beer on earth but Heineken is preferred in the heavenly realms.”

Or someone could make a TV ad in which one guy lays a half a bottle of cheap beer in front of the shrine and gets struck by lightning.

A follower steps over the smoldering corpse and delivers something a bit more upmarket.

Voice over:

“Chivas Regal. Even the gods agree: it’s divine.”
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RELATED POSTS:

Religion and alcohol

Why Asians can’t take booze
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ON ANOTHER SUBJECT: Calling all readers who may be in Hong Kong next week. The travel plans of Fardel, a frequent commentator, have changed. Originally I hoped we would have a dinner for him on Saturday May 1, but he tells me he may have to fly out of Hong Kong on that date instead.

So instead, we should meet during the week. I have no appointments on the evening of Thursday Apr 29. Is anyone else free that evening for a relaxing drink/ meal/ chat?
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BIG HELLO to the gang at ING’s Asia-Pacific insurance branch. Your humble narrator spent last night as the entertainment at a big party they threw. Doing stand-up comedy for a multi-ethnic, multi-language group is actually pretty scary. I was SO nervous.

In the event, I didn’t expect insurance agents from Korea, Japan, Malaysia, India, Thailand etc to be sharp and funny, but they were really lively and smart. (Translation: They got my jokes.) Phew.
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Comments

[Karuna]

Nury
The first miracle by Jesus was to make Wine out of water ? Why not post a photo of a drunken Jesus on your blog ?

Or is is that you find it easier to make fun on other people's belief, eh ?

[Jason]

A god of booze and fornication I might actually believe in. But no, there is always that stigma of major scam as you point out.

Speaking of insulting all religions:
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/TV/04/21/south.park.religion/index.html?hpt=C1

Or one of my favourite comedy skits from Canada, audio only:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Prp0fcaQu9s

[kanina bondemar]

Nury.. you made a mistake... did you did some research or just shooting blank!!
For your information...the picture above its not Lord Muneshwara!! its Lord Shiva.... Please do some research..a thorough one at least.... this is my Humble request for my Humbe Narrator...

[Liza A Samad]

The West has a booze deity too! Bacchus was the Greek god of wine and an expert at drunken revelry. That's how the word 'bacchanalia' came to be. :)

[fardel]

@Uncle Nury
Thanks for passing on the info.
The lift lobby having cleaned up their space elevators,the Aviation industry is trying to find its way to survival through the ashes which are wandering around the world.
This has led to an awful situation where one of our commentators,might not be able to eat the long awaited fried silk worms,as scheduled on may 1.
At this time , this commentator is still eating french baguettes and french fries in France.
But the drive to meet the gang and to taste "delicacies'is stonger.
I have to jump back in the sea to swim across as intitially planned
I shall keep everybody posted when I show up in HK.

[Chamin]

I prefer Asian gods who are powerful yet have human qualities such as stubbornness, greed, etc., to almighty Gods who are believed to be in full control while we are in such a mess :-p

Japanese gods have been accepting alcohol since a long time back. So, the alcohol companies offer large wooden barrels of them every year. Many of these gods are generous enough to share the alcohol with devotees, during festivals.

[sej]

Nury, Some things you got right, some things you got wrong:

“Drink Johnnie Walker Black Label. The drink of top deities.”

I prefer vodka, both Absolut or Finlandia are fine.

I don't smoke, so you can forget the cigarettes.

You're right, you can keep your fruit, vegetables and flowers.

“Carlsberg is probably the best beer on earth but Heineken is preferred in the heavenly realms.”

I'll quite happily have either.

Lastly, at least on today's topic anyway, I'm partial to a nice bottle of port.

[Angela]

bah!

Catholic God is the most generous, sharing his cabernet sauvignon with his priests and parishoners every sunday, or more frequent.

By age 9 you are prepared for this life in the spirit.

Literally.

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what is port sej?

cheers to your absolut, make mine with ginger ale and a squeeze of lemon.

[Paul]

Did some searching for Lord Muneshwara and this is what I found

Not really sure if that is him or not, but he looks pretty relaxed for a deity. I love the way the feet are designed, as if he has been partaking in the offerings for quite a while :-D

original site
can be found here.

[TS]

I have always found Carlsberg's slogan "Probably the best beer in the world" a bit insecure.

One of my favourite bands Beat Farmers performs Are You Drinking With Me Jesus, the only religious drinking song in the world: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lPsJqebXT0

In another song, Gun Sale At The Church they nail the hypocrisy of Christianity and gun laws in the US: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0npOg8TvJuE

The band was famous for having three members taking turns at the microphone and the drums.
The two guys singing in these videos both died early, one from cancer the other from a heart attack.

If I was religious, I would moralise that you shouldn't mess with the spirit in the sky...

[Ram]

Well...The picture added by Nury is of lord Shiva... But, according to people, Muneeswara is an Incarnation of Shiva... Just that muneeswara is a fiery one and is normally associated with demolition of evil things...
Not just muneeswara, but there are many such deities worshiped by people in India where meat and liquor are offered to the god... Mostly, they are called as "Guardian Spirits" and the temples located in the borders of a small village and people believe that these gaurdian spirits protect them from evil things...

[Sham]

Nury,

I think most Hindu's would agree that they would be willing to take a fair amount of jesting about Hinduism. But to post a picture like the one at the top is surely in poor taste. Would you actually post a picture of Jesus / Prophet Muhammad with a bottle in his hand?

[kanina bondemar]

I agree with you Ram...it's not nice to do such, will they agree if we do the same??

[Sabrina]

Just wanting to remind,

Alcohol is prohibited in Islam.

[Minkha]

Angela,

This is the Wikipedia description of port wine:

"Port wine (also known as Vinho do Porto, Porto, and often simply Port) is a Portuguese style of fortified wine originating from the Douro Valley in the northern provinces of Portugal.[1] It is typically a sweet, red wine, often served as a dessert wine, and comes in dry, semi-dry, and white varieties. Fortified wines in the style of port are also produced outside of Portugal, most notably in Australia, South Africa, Canada, India, Argentina, and the United States."

May be a bit too strong for hot weather, but works great for me in winter.
You should try it and let us know what you think.

[HS Anand]

Dear SIR,
i HAVE BEEN READING YOUR COLUNM FOR THE LAST SIX MONTHS IN THE sTANDARD AND FIND IT VERY ENJOYABLE. I AM ON VISIT TO HONG KONG AND WILL RETURN TO INDIA ON THE 29TH OF MAY. I FEEL THAT NOT LETTING YOU KNOW THAT I AM A HUGE FAN OF YOURS WOULD BE GROSS INJUSTICE TO SUCH A GOOD AUTHER LIKE YOU
YOURS TRUELY
H S ANAND

[Chamin]

In Japan, we can find figures of Buddha with his thumb in his nose. No Buddhist I know got offended :o)

[fardel]

Port is also good served in a small glass,as an opener to a meal.
It is good in Cantaloupe melon
Cut a very rich falvored Cataloupe melon ,remove the seed
fill with Port
Put in a fridge a few ous before serving

[fardel]

oops Put in a fridge a few hours before serving

[sri]

if u find a lord buddha's figure with his thumb in his nose in Japan it doesnt mean that u can design any god as u like and give a bullshit answer like your Japan one... if no buddhist offended, there might be a history for that kind of figures... Being a human u shld be humane... it means one should respect others, their culture, customs and tradition. If u cant be others need not be humane at u... I wld apprediate if u could change the bloody pic above.

[pradeep]

Question is how such a deity's statue still keeping fine in that place...amazingly in a country like India!! Why don't some true believers protest and change it, instead of ciriticizing the photographer/ bloggist? Surprising..

[Chamin AKA Maria Chaminda Veneracion DeJesus III]

@sri> Bloody pic? I dont see any blood in any pic above :-p