The Burnside Brewing Company in Portland is delaying the release of a new beer after an outpouring of criticism from Hindus. The beer was named “Kali-ma,” and its label featured the four-armed goddess Kali standing among three severed heads

Offensive? Some certainly thought so.

“Such trivialisation of Goddess Kali is disturbing to Hindus (the) world over,” Hindu leader Rajan Zed told the Hindustan Times. “Goddess Kali is highly revered in Hinduism and is not to be used in selling beer for mercantile greed.”

Oops. The thing is, Burnside Brewing owners say they weren’t trying to offend anyone. They got the idea from the movie “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” where Jones is forced to drink a potion that puts him into a trance potion called “the black sleep of Kali Ma.”

I’m guessing the Hindu community wasn’t too thrilled about that movie, either.

Burnside Brewing released this statement on its Facebook page last week:

In response to pleas from the Hindu community we have decided to postpone the limited release of “Kali-ma” our imperial wheat ale flavored with Indian spices and Scotch-Bonnet peppers. It is NEVER our intention at Burnside to offend or alienate any race, creed, religion or sexual orientation. The inspiration for the beer label simply came from a favorite childhood movie in the “Indiana Jones” series and we were unaware that it could be offensive to anyone. We are currently scrambling to re-name the beer and intend to release it soon afterwards. To those who have been patiently waiting, we humbly ask that you wait just a little longer and to anyone we have offended we sincerely apologize.

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