With thousands of visitors to places like Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, Saibaba Sansthan, and Mata Vaishno Devi, it is often hard to accommodate every pilgrim wishing to experience the religious temples. So, the board managers of the temples have agreed to start using new IT databases for many activities including online booking, darshan, and accommodation.
The project to implement the system was given to a company called “Cognizant” back in May of 2010. The project was to contain nearly 37 applications and so far, 15 are under way. According to sources, almost 1,500 pilgrims use the new system every day. With sometimes up to 40,000 people visiting the temples on the weekends, they hope that the online usage will steadily increase until it becomes almost a way of life for pilgrims seeking information.
According to Gartner India, a research company, religion based IT could profit by up to $40 billion within the next five years. Due to the huge impact of religion all around the world, and the billions of people who take religious journeys or holidays, there should be a huge market for such online databases. As technology grows and globalization continues, it would not be a surprise if such IT advancements exploded over the next decade.
Besides Indian temples, there are even more visited religious sites around the world that if an online system was implemented, the rewards could be monumental. The fact is that technology requires money to use and in many places around the world. Thus, it is just not realistic. There is no way to reach many places with such technology and in some cases that may never change.
The new IT system in place in India not only allows for online booking services, accommodation, and donations, it also gives interested visitors a chance to get to know the site and the surrounding area of the temples. It is the new evolution of technology and India could be setting a trend.
Source: SBWire