Idol of Lord Parshuram vandalized in Temple
Udaipur, Rajasthan, India 
19 February, 2023
Case Summary
In Udaipur, Rajasthan, a Lord Parshuram idol was vandalized on February 20. The incident reportedly took place in the Ravaliya Khurd village, which comes under the Gogunda police station. The idol of Lord Parshuram was installed in a temple where the villagers used to worship daily. On February 20 morning, when locals arrived at the temple, they found the idol was damaged. The idol’s two hands were broken, and it was uprooted and thrown down the stairs. After the incident, locals raised slogans against the administration and demanded the immediate arrest of the accused. Following the filing of an FIR, the police started searching for the accused.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
Icons and symbols or a religious representation of a spiritual ideal are widely revered in Hinduism. Iconography is of vital significance in the Hindu milieu. It helps connect people’s spiritual beliefs with the real world. Iconography within the Hindu faith takes several shapes and forms. Murtis are of most significance to Hindus, to which daily rituals, prayers and offerings are done. Besides the murtis, there are several other symbols which have deep significance in the Hindu faith – the Om and Swastika for example. Since these Hindu religious symbols hold paramount importance in Hinduism, any desecration of symbols, icons, murtis, religious representations and manifestations, is driven by animosity towards the faith itself which manifests itself through these murtis, icons and symbols. Therefore, any desecration of these Hindu religious symbols and representations is considered religiously motivated hate crimes under this category. Lord Parshuram is one of the ten avatars of Lord Vishnu, one of the principal deities of Hinduism. Together with Brahma and Shiva, Vishnu forms the principal trinity of Hindu religious practice. The perpetrator, in this case, vandalised the idol of Lord Parshuram underscoring the deep-rooted hatred the accused harboured towards Hinduism. Given that the fundamental motivation behind this incident is contempt for the Hindu religion, this instance has been added to the tracker under the following category. Furthermore, it is important to mention here that though the last update was that the miscreants were unknown, regardless, the action stemmed out of hatred against Hinduism and resulted in the desecration of the sacred temples and would therefore be considered a religiously motivated hate crime.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Unknown
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
