Air India apologises for error in article on Puri Jagannath temple

It was mentioned in the article titled 'Devotion can be Delicious' that non-vegetarian dishes are also served at the Puri Jagannath temple.

New Delhi: Air India as well as its chief Ashwani Lohani on Saturday apologised for an error in the article on Puri Jagannath temple which was published in its in-flight magazine, saying the carrier did not intend to "hurt sentiments".

It was mentioned in the article titled 'Devotion can be Delicious' that non-vegetarian dishes are also served at the temple.

"#AI apologises for the error. Our intention was not to hurt sentiments. #ShubhYatra magazine copies have been removed with immediate effect," the airline said in a tweet.

This comes against the backdrop of protests against the article in Odisha.

"I, #AI CMD Ashwani Lohani, offer my apologies regarding the article on #ShubhYatra. Corrective action has been taken regarding the same," the airline said in another tweet adding that the author has also provided a written apology.

Further, Air India said it would not publish any articles by the author without disclosing the name.

"Said to be the largest in the country, the Jagannath Temple's kitchen in Puri since its inception has had an army of 500 cooks and 300 helpers to serve 1,00,000 people every day, round the clock, which means almost 285 varieties of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes every day," the article published in this month's magazine had said.