The Birmingham Museum of Art has been celebrating Hindu culture since last year with an exhibit featuring Hindu gods, and the observance climaxes with events such as a Hindu dance performance this Sunday and the annual Holi Festival of lights on March 11.

Souvenirs on sale in the museum gift shop have featured Hindu-related items such as magnets, keychains and dolls, many of them made by Hindu artists.

But one Hindu activist in Nevada has complained to the museum, and to Birmingham’s mayor and City Council, saying a doll of the Hindu elephant god Ganesh that was on sale was offensive to him. That item, a Ganesh string doll on a keychain, is currently sold out at the gift shop.

“Lord Ganesh was greatly revered in Hinduism and was meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to be thrown around loosely or used as a key chain,” said a statement from Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism based in Reno, Nevada.

According to his web site, Zed has also recently campaigned for a Hindu chaplain at Dartmouth College, for a celebration of the Hindu festival of Diwali in North Carolina public schools, and called the Swiss hamburger chain “Holy Cow” insensitive and asked them to change its name. Zed noted that cows are sacred in Hinduism and have long been venerated by Hindus.

Graham C. Boettcher, R. Hugh Daniel Director at the Birmingham Museum of Art, issued a statement in response to Zed’s complaint.

“The keychain to which Mr. Zed took offense is offered by our Museum shop in conjunction with the exhibition Expanding Darshan: Manjari Sharma, To See and Be Seen, which looks at historic and contemporary representations of nine of the primary deities of Hinduism,” Boettcher said. “A Google search quickly makes it evident that the depiction of Hindu deities on items of many kinds is a common and widely accepted practice throughout India and across the world. In fact, many of the objects in our Museum shop that depict these deities were created by artists and craftspeople of the Hindu faith. This particular item, which was produced by a fair-trade supplier, is accompanied by a card that describes Ganesha as ‘a patron of the arts, an eliminator of barriers, and the god of knowledge and wisdom,’ and a cloth tag stating that Ganesha ‘reminds you that the wisest people always keep an open mind.’

It’s not clear if Zed has ever been to Alabama. His complaint was based on the museum’s online catalog, which listed the doll keychain for $11.

“Mr. Zed has made no attempt to get to know the Birmingham Museum of Art or our community, and understand that we are a place for cultural exchange and the celebration of diverse ideas and artistic traditions,” Boettcher said. “As home to an active Indian Cultural Society, the BMA has a very strong relationship with Birmingham’s Indian community, which includes many Hindus, including our Board chair Dr. Sanjay Singh. While everyone is entitled to their own opinion, we have received no complaints related to this or any of the other exhibition-related merchandise from within the Birmingham community.”

The Notinee Darshan Dance Performance will be Sunday, Feb. 26, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the museum.

The 12th annual Holi Festival, an Indian celebration of color, will be held March 11 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the museum.

The exhibit “Expanding Darsham” continues through May 31. It explores the arts of Hinduism by introducing nine of the most significant deities of Hindusim: Ganesh, Lakshmi, Brahma, Saraswati, Vishnu, Hanuman, Shiva, Durga and Kali.