Source: Toronto Star
ONTARIO, CANADA, June 30, 2002: When an astrologer warned Anasuya Dhanrajgir that bad luck was on her horizon, she took the road increasingly travelled by modern Hindus. In the old days, the astrologer’s advice might have suggested the 39-year-old Anasuya to take a 900-mile journey to a temple on the southern tip of India. Instead, the stage designer and mother of three logged onto the Internet where Hindu temples offer ceremonies. She found that technology offered an easy way to keep the faith, and a new means of communicating with some of her religion’s millions deities. The site — www.prarthana.com — is named after the Sanskrit word for worship. It offers to conduct prayer rituals for a fee at some 400 temples across India. With the click of her mouse, Anasuya placed an order for a ceremony or puja, which she was told would cost US$25.00. “We performed the puja on Anasuya’s behalf,” says K. Ganesan, the Web site’s founder. The company sent her an e-mail confirming the ceremony had been completed on the proper day. The temple sent Anasuya a parcel with part of the offerings. Ganesan estimates that the number of Web sites offering similar services to Hindus has swelled to 300. Many customers are overseas Indians unable to pray in person at home temples.