American Hindus Offer Prayers via Web

[Guest guest]

LOS ANGELES (Jan. 15, 2005)- The online market for Hindu religious

services is coming of age, with a plethora of Web sites now catering

to the needs of the pious, offering them remote access to temples

that have special significance on the Indian religious map.

 

The Web sites offer devotees the chance to have a priest perform

pujas, or Hindu prayers, on their behalf at the temple of their

choice. They also extend a host of other services, such as online

payment for donations and virtual malls for religious products.

 

The remote religious requests are compatible with the Hindu belief

system. Most gods and goddesses in the pantheon are accommodating

about their devotees' circumstances -- it is the intention that

matters. As long as the devotee initiates the prayer, and as long as

the priest makes that clear to the deity, a Hindu prayer holds good

even in absentia.

 

Saranam.com was one of the first Web sites to recognize the

existence of such a market. It was launched in 1999, after co-

founder Mahesh Mohanan realized that visiting 20 temples in two days

could be "extremely tiring."

 

Today, the site offers prayer services at 160 Hindu temples across

India. The site gets about 600 requests every month, and almost 40

percent of its users are in the United States.

 

Last year, Saranam.com had a turnover of more than 3 million Indian

rupees (about $66,000). According to Mohanan's estimates, more than

1.2 million people form the market for such services.

 

Interestingly, the Web site has also started getting requests for

its services from people belonging to other cultures and

traditions. "Now a significant number of regular customers are not

Indian," Mohanan said.

 

It seems, though, that people are more likely to turn to the gods

when they want something from them.

 

"Pujas that are need-based are more in demand than pujas performed

as part of regular worship," Mohanan said.

 

"For example, pujas to Goddess Mahalakshmi, the bestower of wealth

and prosperity, are more popular."

 

The potential for Web-based prayer sites is huge. The 25 most

popular temples in India attract about 200 million devotees every

year, according to estimates provided by another such service,

Blessingsonthenet.com.

 

Blessingsonthenet.com, a Mumbai-based portal, hosts the official Web

sites of 16 temples, said Ramesh Iyer, senior manager for business

development. It plans to increase that to 20 soon.

 

Iyer said the portal, which was launched in 2000, now gets about

10,000 page views a day. It has about 6,000 registered users, not

counting the traffic on the official temple Web sites.

 

Just as with Saranam.com, more than one-third of

Blessingsonthenet.com's traffic comes from the United States; almost

one-third comes from India.

 

The portal has so far fulfilled more than 1,100 orders for prayers

and donations at various temples. A prayer request can cost up to a

few hundred dollars.

 

Both Iyer and Mohanan said requests for prayers tend to spike during

special occasions.

 

"Donations and puja requests are more on festivals like Navratri,

Ganesh Chaturthi, Deepawali etc," Iyer said. These are religious

occasions on the Hindu calendar, although their significance

sometimes is regional.

 

The Web sites keep the interest up through the year with the help of

several ancillary religious services. Mohanan said his site has

had "tremendous response" from people seeking homam -- a fire

sacrifice ritual -- and astrology services.

 

SOURCE: The Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas. "American Hindus Offer

Prayers via Web," by Paritosh Bansal. Religion News Service

URL: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/living/religion/10644287.htm?1c