Amid lockdown, Telangana temples offer Puja from home, ‘prasadam’ through courier next

The endowments department has been receiving requests from the devotees wanting to perform pujas in their names without physical entry into temples. “The facility to book sevas online has been there for a while but now as devotees are unable to go to temples, we thought of extending the service. Once the puja is performed, the devotee will get an SMS confirmation,” said V Anil Kumar,commissioner, Endowments.

He added that in a week, the software will be further upgraded. “We can send some prasadam through courier for a certain fee. We will do it in a week. We can continue the service even after the lockdown is over,” he told indianexpress.com.

Through the ‘ts.meeseva.telangana.gov.in’, one could book a seva or puja at major temples like Sri Laxmi Narasimha Swamy temple, Yadagirigutta; Sri Raja Rajeshwari temple, Vemulawada; Sri Gyan Saraswathi temple, Basara; Sri Seetha Ramachandra Swamy temple, Bhadrachalam; Sri Anjaneya Swamy Temple, Kondagattu; Sri Peddammma temple, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad; and Sri Laxmi Narasimha Swamy temple, Dharampuri.

Similarly, through the ‘T App Folio’, the official digital application of the state, one could book a seva or puja at Sri Gyan Anjaneya Swamy temple, Karmanghat, Hyderabad; Sri Mahankali temple, Secunderabad; Sri Yellamma Pochamma temple, Balkampet; Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy temple, Komuravelli; and Sri Bhadrakali temple, Warangal.

The devotees can book the seva or pujas by making online payments through the app or website with debit and credit cards, net banking, T-wallet or UPI. A receipt would be generated and sent to their registered e-mail id. Instead of having to produce the print-out of the receipt at the temple’s reception counter, the devotees would now get an SMS confirmation once the puja or seva is performed.

Earlier, the department had announced its decision to perform Mrityunjaya Homam and Sudarsana Homam at all prominent temples across the State to fight the spread of Coronavirus. Devotees could book these pujas too.

Meanwhile, the department has also decided to courier ‘Talambralu’ from Sri Seetha Rama Kalyanam that was performed at Bhadrachalam on April 2, to devotees from across the country.

Via the T-App Folio, one can book for the purchase of ‘Talambralu’. The facility which was available for only devotees from the State is now being extended to devotees from across the country. Over 10,000 packets of Talambralu have been booked online to date.

The cost of one packet is Rs 20, exclusive of courier charges. The number of packets limited per family is two and they will be delivered within 72 hours through IndiaPost courier services.