Karnataka priest offers puja to 'dead servers': Report

A priest in Karnataka, who was repeatedly turned away at government offices and even banks when he sought their services owing to "dead servers" decided on a novel way to put his grievance out in the public: Doing puja for the dead servers.

"I don't know how the server looks, but every time I visit a government office for any work, officials reply in the negative stating the server is down and dead. I thought I should offer tarpan (a ritual of offering prayers to ancestors) to the server and help it attain moksha," Prasanna Kumar from Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) told The Times of India.

The priest has chosen to perform pitru paksha, a ritual in which people pray for and offer food to the souls of their ancestors in the belief that it would help them transition to heaven.

Kumar insists that his intention with the puja is to highlight the 'server down' issue in rural areas of the state. The tarpan to the server was offered to create awareness among the authorities on the need to provide good connectivity in rural areas, he said.

Kumar said he was upset over the repeated failure of servers in various departments and banks. He told the publication that he was visiting revenue authorities to get 'pahani' for the land he owns, but the response he's been getting is that the 'server is down', an excuse repeated with failure to get ration from the public distribution system and at his bank where he went to withdraw money.

"Authorities cite server issue with the sole intent to harass people in many cases," the priest said.