Swastika Furor

The tapestry was added on July 27 as part of a walk-in exhibit on a local Indian family at the Pretend City Children’s Museum, but officials took it down on Aug 31 following protests by three residents on its Facebook page. The removal in turn was criticized and the museum will reintroduce the tapestry at the end of September “accompanied by hands-on programming and additional educational information about the Hindu culture,” according to the museum’s president Pamela Shambra.

Shambra wrote on Facebook: “The complaints we initially received about the tapestry helped us realize that the static explanation of this symbol in the Home was not sufficient to effectively educate our guests about this subject…. We have since consulted with experts, reviewed the practices of other children’s museums, and reviewed the practices of other early childhood education programs. With the help of the Irvine Shakha of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, we are now in the process of developing hands-on programming to help children learn the multiple meanings of symbols and the specific, and long, history of the Hindu swastika.”

The exhibit, featuring cultural objects from local family homes, rotates every six months. Vinay Bhasin, a computer design manager, whose family contributed the tapestry, expressed bewilderment at the criticism and the museum’s decision to withdraw the tapestry. He told the Orange County Regsiter: “It’s sad that people don’t understand that this is a much more ancient symbol, and originally meant for something else totally opposite. If a ‘w’ looks like something else in someone else’s mind, you don’t stop using ‘w’.”

The sacred Hindu swastika, symbolizing harmony and good luck, typically is vertical, unlike the Nazi symbol which faces at an angle.