A controversy has erupted in Gujarat over the “distorted depiction” of Hanuman sitting at the feet of Swaminarayan on a wall of a Hanuman temple at Salangpur in Botad district of the State.

On the celebration of Hanuman Jayanti in the month of April, a 54-foot-tall statue of Lord Hanuman was built in the courtyard beyond the main entrance at the Salangpur Hanuman Temple.

Several Hindu religious outfits had been demanding the removal of murals that depicted Lord Hanuman at the feet of yogi and ascetic Swaminarayan or Sahjanand Swami at Botad's Salangpur Hanuman temple.

A sub-sect of Swaminarayan Sampraday, the Vadtal Swaminarayan Gadi, on Monday decided to remove the controversial murals from the pedestal of a large Hanuman statue in the Salangpur temple complex ...