Temple priests write to endowment department to cancel online services

BENGALURU: The state government has introduced online services at temples which come under the Hindu Religious Institutions & Charitable Endowments Department, but the priests’ associations in Karnataka is opposing online booking of services like abhisheka and prasada.

Some devotees book online for services like abhisheka and prasadam in the evening or at night and priests argue that it becomes difficult for them to perform these services in the next morning.

Since mobile phones are banned for priests inside the sanctum sanctorum, they do not get immediate information about online bookings. Moreover, prasadam cannot be prepared instantly. The priests’ association has written to the Commissioner of Religious Endowments to cancel the online service on the temple app, citing these difficulties.

Most B-category temples in Karnataka don’t have cooking staff or warehouse facilities, making it challenging to fulfill online bookings. Additionally, the money for online bookings takes a long time to reach the priests. The union is demanding that the online service and mobile app be cancelled, citing difficulties in procuring puja materials and prasada.

The online portal and mobile app for booking puja services were launched by Endowment Minister Ramalinga Reddy at the Banashankari Amma temple in Bengaluru. The state’s endowment department is gradually introducing online booking for different temple services. But now, the priests’ union is demanding cancellation of online service.

Dr K S N Dixit, general secretary, All Karnataka Federation of Hindu Temples, said that there are 205 A-category temples, 193 temples in B-category, and 36,000 temples in C-category. “The endowment department has fixed a certain amount for online services in A and B category temples. Devotees are booking services at night, and we cannot perform them the next day”, he said.

“We are requesting the government maintain an earlier system. Sometimes devotees come in the early morning saying that they booked service during the night. We are clueless about that. Temple cooks come at 8 am and priests come in early. It is difficult to fulfill the demands of devotees. Sometimes, there is a delay in receiving funds. There might not be any issues wtih the mobile app and online services in popular temples like Kukke Subramanya, Chamundi Hills, Nanjangud and Melukote, which have adequate facilities and staff, but smaller temples are facing a lot of problems as there is limited staff”, Dixit pointed out.