This digital era is significantly changing the world and our life dynamics. Earlier, we used the internet for work and communication; now we use it for everyday needs. From ordering food to finding partners, it has now been integrated into our spiritual dynamics as well. Digital prayer or pooja is not new and has been a significant part of the spiritual age for the last decade. But the question here is- Are these effective as traditional rituals? In conversation with HT Lifestyle, Dayanand Kamble, founder of Book My Pooja, Bengaluru, decoded how it’s different from traditional pooja.
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Digital pooja vs traditional one?
Explaining about the concept, Kamble quoted, “The morning after Maha Shivratri, a colleague called me from California, slightly unsettled. She had performed the Rudra Abhishek over a livestream from Varanasi, phone propped on her mandir shelf, rudraksha mala in hand, fasting through the night, and doing everything right. ‘Does it still count?’ she asked.
The question itself is telling. Hidden within it is a belief we rarely examine: that faith depends on a predefined format, that devotion is somehow more valid if it is ‘offline.’ As someone who has facilitated over one lakh poojas since 2022, serving families across India and globally, I’ve seen this not as philosophy, but as lived experience. Interestingly, those most at ease with digital rituals are often the most devout. The anxiety tends to come from elsewhere.”
What gives a ritual meaning?
“Are digital poojas effective?” is a comforting question. Kamble highlighted that it allows us to debate technology instead of confronting something deeper: many of us have inherited the motions of ritual, not always the meaning behind them. At the heart of any pooja lies sankalpa, the priest’s invocation, and the devotee’s intent. These are what direct the energy of the ritual, not merely the physical setting.
Does sacred space still matter?
{{/usCountry}}“Are digital poojas effective?” is a comforting question. Kamble highlighted that it allows us to debate technology instead of confronting something deeper: many of us have inherited the motions of ritual, not always the meaning behind them. At the heart of any pooja lies sankalpa, the priest’s invocation, and the devotee’s intent. These are what direct the energy of the ritual, not merely the physical setting.
Does sacred space still matter?
{{/usCountry}}Every temple carries its own energy, its consecration, its centuries of continuous worship, its sanctified geography. That is real. However, in a digital pooja, the priest remains physically present within that sacred space, performing the ritual on your behalf. He becomes the conduit. Your screen does not replace the sacred geography. This is how proxy ritual has always functioned in Hinduism.
Why can digital feel different?
Remote worship is not new. Families have long relied on priests to perform rituals for those who were absent, unwell, or unable to travel. The ritual was never contingent on physical presence. Intention has always travelled. If a pooja feels less real on a screen, perhaps the issue is not the screen, but that, stripped of the temple and its atmosphere, we are left alone with our own attention.
Kamble said, “The real divide is not digital versus traditional. It is conscious versus mechanical. Technology does not weaken faith; it exposes it. Strip away the setting, the incense and the rhythm you grew up with.”
What is left of your devotion then?
Digital platforms are not replacing ritual. They are revealing what we come to it for, the divine, or the comfort of the familiar. Because ultimately, the altar was never the point.
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