Hindu leaders in Australia protested today against the image of two of the religion’s gods being used on labels for an alcoholic ginger beer produced by a small Sydney brewery, a news report said.

The Brookvale Union Brewery labels show the body of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi with the elephant head of the god Ganesh.

The labels were offensive and cheapened the Hindu religion, followed by 1 billion people worldwide, Yadu Singh, president of the Indian Association of New South Wales, told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“It is disgusting, you don’t do that," he told the paper, demanding the images be removed from the labels. US-based Hindu leader Rajan Zed also said the deities were not to be used to sell

beer, and demanded an apology.

The brewery said it did not intend to change the labels, which were not meant to cause offence.

“The aim was to create a great-tasting drink representing the flair, feel and colours from the Asian continent, the primary source of ginger,” the Herald quoted a company spokesperson as saying.

In 2011, a designer who put the image of Lakshmi on swimsuits at a Sydney fashion show pulled the item after protests from the Hindu community.

- dpa