Celebrity tattoo artists urged to get their Sanskrit right

Celebrity tattoo artists urged to get their Sanskrit right

The leading Hindu scholars of America are urging top tattoo artists to read up on their Sanskrit after noticing inked text on Rihanna and David Beckham's skin is misspelled.

Beckham's tattoo, according to the experts, tribute to his wife Victoria is incorrect - as is one of Rihanna's new spiritual etchings.

Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed says, "We are all for the celebrity interest in Hinduism and our sacred texts, but celebrity tattoo artists worldwide really should undertake some basic training in ancient Sanskrit language and culture to get this right."

Rajan Zed insists it must be embarrassing for the stars when they realize permanent marks on their skin are incorrect. He adds, "Rihanna has two Sanskrit prayer tattoos - her latest is misspelled.

David Beckham has his wife Victoria's name in Devnagri script, which is commonly used to write Sanskrit, on his arm - its wrong!

The tattoo on his left forearm misspells Victoria with an added 'h' - as in 'Vihctoria'."

However, fortunately for stars like Jessica Alba, Tommy Lee and The X Files star Gillian Anderson, their prayer tattoos are all correct.

Rajan Zed

Rajan Zed tells WENN, "I won't tell you what they all mean - because I'm sure they're very special to the individuals. We are delighted that so many celebrities choose to pay tribute to Hinduism with tattoos. We only ask that the tattoo artists take the trouble to get it right."