Now, connect to god at a click as pujas go online

Aditi.R@timesgroup.com

Chennai:16.04.2020

Several Hindu priests in and around the city have now switched to the virtual medium to ensure people are able to conduct ceremonies and rituals without any hassle, during the shutdown. They are now providing services through WhatsApp video call, Skype or Zoom.

V V Sethuraman, a priest of KK Nagar, was supposed to go to a house to perform tharpanam, a religious offering, this week. “But they had locked the building and no outsider is allowed. We all wanted to do this puja, so I went home, made a video call on WhatsApp and started the ritual,” he said.

On the call, Sethuraman began instructing the family members to keep all material in the right position and then began chanting hymns. “They all know the procedure. All I had to do was to guide them when they needed help. It went on smoothly,” he said.

This was the second such service Sethuraman had performed over a video call in the last week and he says it serves the cause. “We all have devotion in our hearts and minds, and performing rituals in person or virtually doesn’t matter,” he said.

TR Ramachandran, another priest from Mylapore, said he has been getting several requests from people to help conduct ceremonies over video calls. “I am used to going to people’s houses and conducting poojas. But since the last one week people have been contacting to me to perform pujas through video calls,” he said. With his son’s help, Ramachandran downloaded video calling applications on his phone and computer.

Priests are already booked to conduct amavasai pitru tarpanam, which falls on April 23, via video calls. “I have received four requests from people so far. I am planning to perform the ritual via video conferencing so we don’t waste time,” said Ramachandran.

Ravi Kumar Sharma Pendyala, another priest, said he is performing ceremonies using Google Hangouts. He pointed out that there are several rituals that can be easily performed with a little guidance from pundits. “Rituals like the annual ceremonies for forefathers as per their almanac, naming ceremonies and ganapathi homams can be easily performed with items available in the house. These are in high demand now,” he said. “But rituals like house warming ceremony and havans which need more materials cannot be performed over a video call,” said Ravi Kumar.

“These ceremonies are being conducted by our ancestors for generations. Hence it is important to us and we need to continue it,” said TR Ananthanarayanan, one of the people who has availed one of these services.

Speaking about the crises due to the Covid-19 outbreak, Ravi Kumar said, “We understand what is happening. But when people reach out to us, it is our duty to provide our services in every way possible,” he said.