PUDUCHERRY: The Integrated Temple Management System (ITMS) website for 243 temples in Puducherry was launched by Lieutenant Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan at Raj Nivas on Wednesday.
The ITMS of the Department of Hindu Religious Institutions & Waqf, Puducherry, carries details of 243 religious institutions including temples and mutts that come under the purview of the department. The website provides information on the administration of temples, pujas, festivals, details of movable and immovable property, donations and temple rules.
The website address is http://hri.py.gov.in.
Speaking at the launch, the Lt. Governor said Puducherry is the first Union territory to have set up such a system. Referring to inclusive management, she said that Waqf institutions' details will also be featured on this website.
Highlighting the features of the website, the Lt. Governor said it would help to propagate spiritual tourism in Puducherry and increase its revenue.
The Lt. Governor expressed her gratitude to the National Informatics Center (NIC) for creating ITMS. She also thanked Tamil Nadu for guiding the process.
The government of Tamil Nadu shared this software module and the NIC supported the development of the website through its technical inputs.
The objective is to manage the details of all the temples/religious institutions, so that the public can utilise it and to preserve the architectural value of the temples, said HRI Secretary K Mahesh.
It will create transparency regarding the movable and immovable properties of the temples and mutts and monitor and regulate the income and expenditure of the temples, besides enhancing the e-services provided by them. The ITMS would let people view the renovation and repair activities in temples and also involve people who are interested in activities like Annadhanam.
It integrates all the temples under one portal so that the online registration for poojas and other e-services is made easy for the devotees and also provides a link to all the temples for online darshan. It also provides a link to the temples of other states so that people can access another website from this portal.
The function was attended by Secretary, HRI & Waqf Department, Mahesh, Secretary to the Lt. Governor, Abhijit Vijay Chowdhuri, Senior Technical Director NIC, DR Shukla, Commissioner, HRI, A Sivasankaran and other officials.