Overseas Indians turn to Web for festival prayers

Overseas Indians turn to Web for festival prayers, Wed Oct 4, 2006 8:30 AM IST
By Onkar Pandey

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - 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.

Oct. 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...

"(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. Full news story See another source: Clicking for Kali

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