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Faith tech is changing the way Indians pray, and it is good business, too

- K. SUNIL THOMAS

THE GODS HAVE gone mobile. From a darshan at your favourite temple and getting prasad delivered home to buying puja essentials and consulting an astrologer, the esoteric has come to e-commerce. And every-one's loving it.

The stars certainly seem to have aligned for the next booming sector in India's online space—faith tech. It includes a range of services in the devotional and astrology space being offered by intrepid entrepreneurs through apps that a user can access from anywhere. Want to light a lamp at the Ram temple in Ayodhya but cannot travel all the way? There is a faith tech app that will do it for you at just around 100 bucks, and send you a video of the same. Want to fix an auspicious date for a ceremony or hire a pandit, or make a donation or get a ritual done? They will do it for you.

"The way you should look at it is pretty much like how an app like Swiggy gives access to food, or Blinkit gives access to grocery and other daily need items, or Netflix gives access to content," said Prashant Sachan, founder of the app Sri Mandir, which gives "access to devotional informa-tion and services". The app has the backing of investors like Nandan Nilekani.

There are at least 1,000 faith-based startups like Sri Mandir. ShubhPuja and DevaSeva offer temple visits, puja booking, holy texts; AstroTalk and Paavan offer daily horoscope, personalised consultations and even life coaches; OnlinePrasad.com and Phool sell gemstones, incense sticks and puja essentials.