CHENNAI: Top actor Rajinikanth on Wednesday lauded the Tamil Nadu government for taking action against a YouTube channel, which had allegedly denigrated Lord Murugan and said religious hatred and "God-baiting" should atleast stop now.
The denigration of "Kanda Sashti Kavacham," a Tamil hymn sung in praise of the Lord, had hurt "crores of Tamils," he said in a tweet.
"My wholehearted appreciation to the Tamil Nadu government for the quick action taken against those who had very badly denigrated Kanda Sashti Kavacham and hurt many crores of Tamils," he said, and welcomed the reported removal of related videos from the channel.
He described the vulgar interpretation of the hymn as a "lowly act".
"Atleast now, let religious hatred and God-baiting end. It has to," he said in the Tamil tweet.
All religions were acceptable, he said, adding "Kandanukku Arogara," a term used to hail Lord Muruga, and it soon started trending on Twitter.
Earlier, a row erupted in the state after the YouTube channel "Karuppar Koottam" (Black Group) gave a vulgar interpretation to "Kanda Sashti Kavacham", prompting the BJP and pro-Hindu organisations to go up in arms against the group, even as they filed police complaints.
Four people, including the anchor who appeared in the video, have been so far arrested, with the city asking YouTube to block the channel for the alleged offensive content.
The video post against the 'Kavacham' hymn, considered sacred and recited every day by millions of Tamil Hindus, seeking divine protection from Lord Muruga, caused outrage and many people took to social media to register their protest and seek action.
In the post, the anchor Surendran alias 'Nathigan' (atheist) allegedly gave a vulgar and offensive interpretation to the centuries old hymn authored by a revered saint, Bala Devaraya Swami at the famed Chennimalai Sri Subramania Swamy temple near Erode in western Tamil Nadu.
Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister Sevoor S Ramachandran had also assured due action will be taken against the channel.