Tatamagouche, NS: Upset Hindus are urging Tatamagouche (Nova Scotia) based Tatamagouche Brewing Company to change the name of its beer currently named as Amrita (which they regard as sacred nectar of immortality), calling it highly inappropriate.
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (United States) said this week that amrita emerged from Churning of the Ocean (samudra-manthana), which was a highly important part of Hindu faith; and linking beer to it was a trivialization of the oldest and third largest religion of the world with a rich philosophical thought and about 1.2 billion adherents.
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, pointed out that amrita, which also found mention in the oldest existing scripture of the mankind Rig-Veda, was the name given to the nectar of immortality, which bestowed deathlessness.
Selling beer named as Amrita was highly misleading and it hurt the feelings of the devotees. Symbols and concepts of any faith, larger or smaller, should not be mishandled, Rajan Zed noted; and also urged Tatamagouche Brewing to offer a formal apology.
Breweries should not be in the business of religious appropriation, sacrilege, and ridiculing entire communities.
Inappropriate usage of sacred Hindu concepts or symbols or deities or icons for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees, Zed indicated. Amrita Brett IPA (6.2% ALC./VOL.), priced at $10 for a 500mL bottle and available in-store and online, was described as “genuine nectar of the Gods”.
The company acclaims it to be “a joyous expression of fruit and hops interaction”, “bursting with bright tropical notes and robust hop essences” and “aged on passion fruit and mango”.
Award-winning microbrewery Tatamagouche Brewing, whose beer is claimed to be “Certified Organic and Unpasteurized”, was converted from an old butcher shop in 2014.
The company says on its website: “Many years ago, a two-headed calf came to Tatamagouche. We think it’s no coincidence that he happened to show up here.
After all, Tatamagouche is a place full of many strange and wonderful things. It’s a little town with big ideas. A town that’s always looking forward while still keeping an eye on the past. This two-headed place is our home and it inspired us to make good beer for good people. Beer that just happens to be a mix of traditional and the unexpected.”
The brewery won the 2020 Canadian Brewing Awards – Gold – for its Two Rives Baltic Porter, Silver for Square One Saison, and Bronze for its Saltwater Cowboy Gose. Amrita is said to be ‘a collaboration with legendary homebrewer Mark McKay’.