Coronavirus: Hit by revenue fall due to lockdown, Kerala temples launch online offering facility

Webcasting plans face ritualistic hurdle

Hit by the huge revenue fall due to the coronavirus lockdown, major temples in Kerala are launching online facilities for devotees to conduct poojas and hundi offering. Though the option of live streaming of special events, like the popular Vishu festival rituals on Tuesday, was mooted, it met with ritualistic hurdles.

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With the lockdown entering the fourth week, many prominent temples like the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple and the Guruvayur Sree Krishna temple are facing acute revenue fall. While the Sabarimala Temple already launched the online facility for devotees to conduct special poojas and make online payments to hundi, the Guruvayur temple is launching an updated online facility with easy payment options and facility for making an offering to hundi.

N Vasu, president of Travancore Devaswom Board that manages Sabarimala temple, told DH that owing to ban of pilgrims to Sabarimala during the annual festival last month and the Vishu day as well as other major temples under the board, the TDB would be facing Rs. 100 crore revenue fall from offerings, poojas and sales of prasadams. Guruvayur Devaswom chairman K B Mohandas said that the Sree Krishna Temple used to have monthly revenue of Rs. 12 crore, which has come to the rock-bottom levels owing to the lockdown. If the situation prolongs, both the Devaswoms might also face financial crunches in meeting expenses like salaries to employees, they said.

With the lockdown upsetting hundreds of devotees who used to have the auspicious 'Vishnukanni' darshan, the first sight of the collection of valuables ranging from vegetables to gold symbolising prosperity, at major temples, Kerala Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran said in a TV talk show that the option of live web streaming of important temple rituals would be considered as being done by many Churches. But it has been nipped in the bud by the Devaswom authorities citing ritualistic hurdles.

Mr. Vasu said that he had discussed the live streaming option with the temple Thantri. The Thantri said that video recording of poojas inside the sanctum sanctorum should not be allowed as per ritualistic norms.

Many devotees were also not favouring online darshan. Balabhaskar, a native of Thiruvananthapuram, who used to be at Guruvayur Sree Krishna temple in Kerala on all Vishnu festival days over the last many years to witness the 'Vishnukani' said that he did not favour online Vishukani darshan or other rituals. "Online darshan would not give the fervour of being in a temple premises," he said.