Meenakshi Blesses the Internet
It was only a matter of time before the goddess Meenakshi descended from her lofty perch and began to distribute her blessings over the World Wide Web. The Meenakshi temple in Madurai is one of the most sacred sites for Hindus yet not everyone is able to make a pilgrimage into central Tamil Nadu to be blessed by the goddess.
The answer came when the CEO of Winways, Mr. R Sivarajah teamed up with the temple staff and created a website where members can put in advanced requests for temple priests to say prayers for special occasions, birthdays or anniversaries. For an additional fee prasadam, eatable sugar coated blessings, can be mailed anywhere in the globe.
The website offers bookings up to 90 days in advance and services range from 300 rupees to 3180 ($6-$75).
This isn't the first time this temple has made a foray into electronic media. Several months ago I made my way to the temple with my family and I saw at least one kiosk with a computer loaded with information about the temple.
posted by Scott Carney @ 11:07 AM
14 comments
14 Comments:
Thanks for the Update! I grew up in Madurai, and noticed this in Boing Boing...
I always wondered how Eastern religions capitalized on the gullibility of the the everymoron. Now I know, candy coated in 'divine intervention.' I'd lol but taking advantage of the irrational is hardly funny.
Great post...I saw it on boingboing.
@godyourimaginaryfriend
"I always wondered how Eastern religions capitalized on the gullibility of the the everymoron."
That shows your ignorance of Hinduism. In Hinduism, when they build a temple (especially the ancient ones)... The diety is personified as the living god/goddess. They go through a long process where they santify the idol as the goddess and the temple as her place where she resides and lives.
It is believed that the king (or queen) is the protector and law giver of the land but it is the god or the goddess of the land that reigns supreme and even the king is considered second to the god/goddess. And so the ancestors have devised or documented processes where they treat the idol as a living, breadthing person. So they perform all the duties that are done to a king/queen. They bath the diety, offer food, and attend to the maintanance of the temple (house). And this ritual is done on a daily basis. And it has been documented in the ancient texts called Sastras that are followed by hindu temples around the globe. And it is believed that you can judge the economics, wealth and welfare of a land and and it's people by looking at the temple. Up keeping and maintaining a temple costs money and the amounts you see are in "Rupees". So 1000(Rs) is equal to about $25 which is not a whole lot.
I agree that people and (sometimes the priests) misuse and abuse the system. But back in the old days the priests and the family lived, resided and attended to the needs of the temple 24x7. So they solely depended on the people and today it's sad that most temples of India are neglected and are in ruins because of lack of people who care and the economics of the people have also equally changed. And it's surprising that some temples like the Meenakshi temple still stand.
I am happy to see that someone is taking their time to connect the temple and it's people across borders.
Vaelan
Citizen journalism at it's best. No mainstream paper would have brought this to my attention.
...if only we could encourage m&m's to print a few 'O's...
Thanks for the article Scott ! I grew up in tamilnadu and its always good to hear from your home state.
I guess Tirumala/Tirupathi has its website too -
http://www.tirumala.org/
Here is their online booking site.
http://www.ttdsevaonline.com/
Tirupati has a website, too, huh? That's pretty interesting, I guess everyone is heading towards the web. Does anyone remember the New York Times story of Tirupati selling the hair of it's clean shaven followers to wig companies in New York? As I recall the Hassidic (sp?) Jewish population was up in arms, because a lot of women, who have to shave their heads as part of the faith, were buying wigs from said "heathen" ceremony.
Yes, I heard about that.
Here is an old link about the story of how hair from tirupati ended up in the US.
http://tennessean.com/special/hair/archives/03/03/29911319.shtml
As long as does not end up in any food items .. I am fine. Wait i spoke too fast ... here is a link how soy sauce is made from hair ingredients .. Yuck !
http://www.ultrabrown.com/posts/soy-lent-green
Hmmm.. Interesting. I guess this is more of a way for temples to get money and people to feel their doing something even though they are not physically there.
Isn't the main point of going to a temple to (supposedly) soak up the positive energy and get some peace?
It is sad but true that temples in India are pacing towards commercialization leaving the very intentions behind construction of same.
Many times when I visit many temples especially on-or-around the fest, I feel suffocated with too much of rush and noise that I could not wait to get home.
Here are some links that I believe will be interested
I like it! Good job. Go on.
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Fantastic. Good idea
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