India may be the land of the Kamasutra, the ancient treatise on sex, but public displays of
affection remain strictly taboo in the country's hinterlands, as an
Israeli couple found out.
They were fined 500 Indian rupees ($11) each for embracing and kissing
after getting married in a traditional Hindu ceremony in the northwestern
Indian town Pushkar, the Asian Age newspaper reported Wednesday.
The Israeli Embassy in New Delhi confirmed the incident and identified
the couple as Alon Orpaz and Tehila Salev, who decided to get married
while visiting India. The embassy did not provide additional details.
The couple had decided to have a traditional Hindu marriage while
visiting Pushkar town earlier this month in the temple-studded desert
state of Rajasthan.
But they infuriated the
priest as they started to kiss and embrace while he was chanting vedic
hymns.
The priest, along with other Hindu holy men, complained to police, who
filed charges against the couple. The court in Pushkar gave its verdict
Tuesday.
The Asian Age newspaper said Hindu priests were outraged.
"We will not tolerate any cultural pollution of this sort," Ladoo Ram
Sharma, president of an organization of Hindu priests in Pushkar, said.
Pushkar has a famous temple dedicated to Brahma and is popular with
foreign tourists who come for its desert ambience, camel safaris and annual camel fair.
India has tough obscenity laws and kissing in public is frowned upon in
the largely conservative country. Last October, local residents in the
western state complained to authorities that a group of Israeli women had
danced naked near Pushkar. (Agencies) |
印度可以稱為古老的性愛技巧著作——《愛經(jīng)》的發(fā)源地。但是,直到現(xiàn)在,在公共場合示愛在印度內(nèi)地仍被嚴(yán)格禁止。一對在印度尋求浪漫婚禮的以色列夫婦最近遭遇了意想不到的情況。
據(jù)本周三的印度《亞洲年代》報道,這對以色列夫婦在印度西北部城鎮(zhèn)布什格爾舉行傳統(tǒng)的印度教婚禮時,因互相擁抱、接吻而被處以每人500盧比(11美元)的罰款。
以色列駐新德里大使館證實(shí)了這件事,這對以色列夫婦名叫阿隆·奧爾佩斯和泰希拉·薩萊瓦,他們計(jì)劃在印度旅游期間結(jié)婚。以色列大使館沒有提供更詳細(xì)的信息。
這個月早些時候,這對夫婦在寺廟遍布的沙漠之地拉賈斯坦邦游覽時決定在布什格爾舉行傳統(tǒng)的印度教婚禮。
這對新人在主持婚禮的印度教祭司唱吠陀贊美詩時開始接吻和擁抱,這令祭司非常不滿。
印度教祭司和其他一些印度教圣徒隨即向警方提出抗議,警方立案起訴了這對夫婦。周二,布什格爾當(dāng)?shù)胤ㄔ簩@起案件進(jìn)行了判決。
《亞洲年代》報道說印度教祭司們義憤填膺。
布什格爾當(dāng)?shù)匾粋€印度教教士協(xié)會的主席拉杜·拉姆·夏爾馬說:“我們決不能容忍這種文化褻瀆事件發(fā)生?!?
布什格爾有一處非常著名的拜祭梵天的寺廟,獨(dú)特的沙漠景觀、駱駝旅行和一年一度的駱駝節(jié)也吸引了眾多外國游客。
印度懲治傷風(fēng)敗俗的法律相當(dāng)嚴(yán)厲。在這個非常保守的國度里,在公共場合接吻是要遭到反對的。去年10月,印度西部的居民就曾經(jīng)向當(dāng)局投訴一群以色列婦女在布什格爾附近跳裸舞。
(中國日報網(wǎng)站 薛曉文譯) |