Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Linking Ancient and Modern, A Worldwide Web of Worship - Washington Post
... Following ancient tradition deep inside one of India's oldest and holiest temples, he chanted Vishnu's names 108 times to beseech health, wealth and good fortune -- not for himself, but for an Indian emigrant living in London who had purchased the prayer with her credit card on a Hindu Web site.
...
Hindus sitting in the United States or Europe watch streaming live video of morning prayers from temples in their home towns. Sikhs listen to podcasts of prayers from Kashmir. Muslims download schedules of prayer times and recordings of sung verses from the Koran.
...
Clicking her way to Saranam.com, Kumararajah recalled, she arrived at a site that looked like the home page of bookseller Amazon.com, with colorful graphics and a slick menu of products and services -- and a link to check on "my stuff."
She clicked on the "pujas" tab, which brought her to a page where she could choose from a menu including "pujas for health" and "pujas for children." She chose a puja for wealth, health and happiness -- asking for help in finding a husband and having a family, and for the family software business to prosper.
Then she clicked on the "temples" tab and chose Sri Rangam, a thousand-year-old complex near Tiruchirapalli, about 200 miles south of Chennai near the southern tip of India. She had grown up in Chennai but had never visited the temple, one of India's most venerated religious sites. The centerpiece of the temple is a reclining image of Vishnu, which draws Hindus from across the world. Kumararajah was thrilled to find it on the Web site's list of temples available for pujas.
She clicked again and put her puja in her "shopping cart," then hit "proceed to checkout," filled in her billing address and paid with her Visa card over a secure server. ...
... Following ancient tradition deep inside one of India's oldest and holiest temples, he chanted Vishnu's names 108 times to beseech health, wealth and good fortune -- not for himself, but for an Indian emigrant living in London who had purchased the prayer with her credit card on a Hindu Web site.
...
Hindus sitting in the United States or Europe watch streaming live video of morning prayers from temples in their home towns. Sikhs listen to podcasts of prayers from Kashmir. Muslims download schedules of prayer times and recordings of sung verses from the Koran.
...
Clicking her way to Saranam.com, Kumararajah recalled, she arrived at a site that looked like the home page of bookseller Amazon.com, with colorful graphics and a slick menu of products and services -- and a link to check on "my stuff."
She clicked on the "pujas" tab, which brought her to a page where she could choose from a menu including "pujas for health" and "pujas for children." She chose a puja for wealth, health and happiness -- asking for help in finding a husband and having a family, and for the family software business to prosper.
Then she clicked on the "temples" tab and chose Sri Rangam, a thousand-year-old complex near Tiruchirapalli, about 200 miles south of Chennai near the southern tip of India. She had grown up in Chennai but had never visited the temple, one of India's most venerated religious sites. The centerpiece of the temple is a reclining image of Vishnu, which draws Hindus from across the world. Kumararajah was thrilled to find it on the Web site's list of temples available for pujas.
She clicked again and put her puja in her "shopping cart," then hit "proceed to checkout," filled in her billing address and paid with her Visa card over a secure server. ...
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