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Thousands of Indians living abroad are logging on to religious Web sites in
the run-up to the main Hindu festival of Diwali, courtesy of a stream of portals
offering services like online praying and blessings.
October 20 marks the beginning of the three-day Hindu festival of light, and
some of the millions of Indians living in countries like Britain, the United
States and Canada are joining in the celebrations back home electronically.
For prices ranging from $8 to $15, religious portals are offering prayer
sessions for IT-savvy devotees at temples in India, sending them a DVD of the
prayer and offerings like dried flowers or vermilion, blessed by the priest.
Worshippers can also pick up idols, incense sticks, religious books from
these holy Web malls all at the click of a mouse.
 “(The number) of people registering online for puja (prayer) during this
festival season has surged almost three to four times from the normal days,”
said Mervyn Jose of Saranam, an India-based site (www.saranam.com).
Around 60 percent of Saranam's clients are living overseas, the majority of
whom are Indian IT professionals in their thirties, who are too busy or too
distant to get to a temple.
“It is technology which is enabling us to reach the Gods at the click of a
mouse,” says Jose, himself a former engineer.
But despite most major temples and religious organizations having their own
Web sites, many are not happy with the modern version of worshipping God.
“Though priests perform pujas for our clients they are not all happy doing
it, even the temple authorities and trusts are not very encouraging,” says
Jose, who offers clients a list of about 150 temples across India to do their
prayer sessions.
However, some priests are sympathetic to the new breed of devotees.
“Time is changing and so are devotees, they don't have so much time and
they live very far,” said Gopal Pujari, a priest at the revered Vaishno Devi
shrine in India's northern state of Jammu and Kashmir.
“But they have devotion in heart and despite all the constraints, they
still remember God in any which way they can.”
Reuters Page(s) 1
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