Namaste everyone!

Lately, in the past year or so, I have seen many websites appear on the Net that allow Hindus to do puja and take darshan online. This fascinates me to see the ways in which a great and old tradition like Hinduism is also able to offer worship opportunities to devotees on the Internet.

From what I have learned, Hindus traditionally perform murti puja to murtis of Bhagavan in the temple or in their own homes. These murtis are not symbols of God, but are instead embodied forms of God. As I understand it, the murtis are Bhagavan in material form who comes into that form in order to foster a loving relationship between God and the devotee. Typically (but not always), these murtis are three-dimensional.

However, recently, people have also started doing pujas to Bhagavan in other ways—on posters instead of murtis, to gods depicted on television sets (during the Ramayana performances), etc. Now, I have seen that many mandirs (for example the Radhavallabh Mandir in Vrindaban, the Vishvanath Mandir in Banares, and others) and other sites also offer darshans of Bhagavan on the Internet (either by pictures of temple deities, or by means of webcams installed in the temples).  Further, some temples and other sites offer pujas to Bhagavan on the Internet. These are not just the pujas that people pay to have done on their behalf, but instead these are pujas that people can actually perform to Bhagavan on the Internet (one can offer flowers to God by clicking the mouse, etc.).

Since these cyber darshans and pujas are so new, I have many questions about them.

1. What do you think about darshan and puja to Bhagvan via the Internet?   What is the purpose of darshan and puja and do the Internet counterparts of these accomplish this purpose?

2. Just like Bhagvan can be in the mandir or home in the murti, and just like one can do puja to a picture of Bhagvan on one’s altar, can Bhagvan also be online? I have heard some people say that these new forms of puja are “not real,” but my question is, if Bhagavan can be embodied in material form in a murti, can’t He also be embodied on the Internet? If Bhagavan takes on the form that is most relatable to His devotee, then can’t He also take on a form on the Internet if this is how some devotees may choose to best relate to Him and worship Him?

3. If devotees choose to worship Bhagvan online, what is the protocol or procedure for doing this?   If people do pujas online, do they need to do the same things as they would do with murtis that are in the temple/in their homes? If doing a puja to God online, can you do it with your shoes on, without taking a bath, or right after checking your e-mail, etc.? Or do people need to be more careful about their procedures since doing puja online is so new and the computer is not a separate religious space?   Or does it, perhaps, not matter either way?

Sorry for posting so many questions.  I look forward to any comments!