Rama Krishna Sangem
People in Delhi can now get an immersive virtual experience of Gujarat’s iconic Somnath Temple as a 3D cave representing the holy shrine has been created at a landmark building here. This is a first sign of how technology is going to revolutionize spirituality too in the coming days. Till now divine institutions have been using technology for other services like booking slots, reservation etc, but now it entered e-darshan too.
The Gujarat government has created the 3D cave at ‘Garvi Gujarat’ on Akbar Road, which was jointly inaugurated by P K Mishra, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, and Supreme Court judges Justice M R Shah and Justice Belaben Trivedi on the occasion of the foundation day of Gujarat on May 1, Monday. The Shree Somnath Temple is one the 12 holy jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva.
What the administrators of temple trusts say is that popularity of this Somnath Temple’s e darshan will decide the fate of other pilgrim centers in the country in the coming days. “Fast increasing rush of devotees and static logistic facilities at temples will drive devotees to opt for this emerging facilities – like e-darshan,” said a senior official of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), Tirupati, while talking to Excel India on phone.
To soften rush at temples
This is a good development if devotees can experience and enjoy the original pristine serenity and sanctity of a temple they worship, through e-darshan, opined several temple executives who spoke to us. This soften the ever growing rush at temples, mostly at prime ones like TTD, Tirumala and Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple, at Yadadri.
This will also reduce the carbon foot print at temples and pilgrim centers across the country. Already some e-portals have been arranging e-darshan of leading deities, especially to the devotees living abroad. However, the quality of such services need to be standardized or fine tuned. Provision of VR glasses or AR headsets equipped with 5G connectivity will usher us into a new era of e-darshans soon.
