Shimla: Now you can perform prayers and give offerings in Himachal Pradesh`s Naina Devi shrine with just a click of a mouse! The hilltop temple is launching its website on Monday.
"Devotees across the globe will now have access to the daily activities and perform online `puja`," temple officer Madan Lal Sharma told a news agency.
He said the devotees can even make online offerings. "For this, the temple trust has tied up with the HDFC Bank," he added.
People can also participate in the daily `arti` - both in the morning and evening.
"The temple website (www.srinainadevi.com) has a collection of photographs and history of the temple. It also includes forthcoming religious events and festivals. One can literally have a `parikrama` of the temple," the official said.
Naina Devi, some 175 km from state capital, in Bilaspur district attracted around 23 lakh devotees in 2009 and the number went up to 25 lakh last year.
One of the busiest shrines in north India, a majority of the pilgrims come from Punjab and Haryana.
The shrine of Naina Devi saw record offerings of over Rs.11 crore in 2010 apart from gold and silver.
"There was an increase of Rs.2.03 crore in cash offerings at the shrine last year as compared to 2009. It broke the earlier (2009) record of Rs.9.29 crore," temple trust chairman Vinay Singh Thakur said.
He said the temple got offerings in cash worth Rs 11.32 crore, 5.4 kg of gold and 3.38 quintals of silver in 2010.
IANS
