CHENNAI: With online aggregators entering every possible space that allows you to book everything from a cab to a facial, spiritual and ritualistic needs are not left unanswered either. The last couple of years have seen a rapid increase in the number of 'pujari-on-demand' portals which allow clients to book a priest for any puja or ceremony that needs to be conducted. The services range from Griha Pravesh to naming ceremonies, weddings, festivals and even e-pujas. While this is extremely convenient for clients, it is helping the priest community too.
"I was earlier working under a senior priest, but now through all the work that I have done with the online portal I have the confidence to carry out pujas on my own," says CR Krishnaprasad, one of the priests who specialises in Telugu pujas at Harivara. He is proud to have his profile up on a portal that can be accessed worldwide. "It gives me recognition and respect among more people. I am appreciated for my work and that feels wonderful. When I started out I was getting only one or two ceremonies but in the last one year, this number has increased to nearly 15 ceremonies and sometimes even 20 in a busy month."
Most of these priests were earlier confined to a particular part of the city where they were either family priests or were referred to others through word of mouth. "Priests rely heavily on networks," says Ananthanarayanan, Priest Services. "Earlier, it was tough for them to build a network beyond their area. When it comes to online portals, they don't have to worry about searching for clients. Apart from the regular ones, they are getting more clients. If they were doing two or three Griha Pravesh pujas in a month, they would now easily be doing six or seven."
Networking was a reason why many priests were not able to reach out to the right kind of clients. "Most of us were clueless about networking," says Rajesh Kumar Sharma, another priest working for Harivara. "Now, we are travelling far and wide to perform pujas. Through the platform, I performed a puja in an apartment in Vadapalani. The clients were so happy with the service that they told the others in the apartment. In the last fortnight, I have performed three ceremonies in that apartment alone. Earlier, I would not have been able to access these clients because I don't know anyone in Vadapalani."
It also becomes easier for priests to dissociate the spiritual and religious aspect and look at their work as another profession. "I was never comfortable asking for money and people took advantage of that," says a priest who now works for one of the online portals. "Many people think that what we do is a duty to God and should be treated as just that. Of course it is. But I need to feed and educate my family too," he shares adding that he used to negotiate with his client. But as these portals fix the rates beforehand, there is no ambiguity. "I now know for sure that if I conduct the puja, I will get my money. Earlier that was always a question mark," he adds.
Uday Kumar, (38) an IT employee from Tiruchy, was in a fix when he bought a house in Chennai and didn't know anyone who could do the Griha Pravesh. "I heard about these portals through a friend. Initially, I was skeptical about it but I decided to give it a shot. And I was impressed. The priest was so thorough. He was punctual, performed all the rituals and was extremely courteous," he says.
Lingaraj Chidambaram, another portal user from Chennai. "I was looking for an app for puja services but I could not find any. Then I found these services to book online. Through my interactions, I was advised to do a Ganapathy homam and vastu puja rather than a Grihapravesh, as the property was fairly new. I performed these pujas with their help and it was beneficial," he shares.
These portals often help those who have relocated to the city as they do not have the contacts. "Chennai has a large migrant population. We want to cater to the specific needs of these people who won't have access to a family priest in the city," says C Manikandan, founder, Book My Iyer. "We have around 1,000 priests in our network who perform various specialised pujas in Chennai and Bengaluru. We even have people working for us part-time. These are mainly children of priests who have a day job but are well versed with the rituals and perform ceremonies before or after work," he adds.
While providing priests at your doorstep is the model that is primarily followed by all these portals, Harivara also provides an option for e-pujas and Skype pujas as a value-added service. This can be done for clients living abroad especially in countries like Russia and Netherlands.