Amarnath Shrine Board launches online services

SRINAGAR: The Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) has launched online services for devotees unable to visit the holy cave due to the cancellation of the annual pilgrimage for the second consecutive year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. J&K lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha inaugurated the virtual platform — developed by SASB and National Informatics Centre (J&K) — on Tuesday.
Under this initiative, the faithful can now virtually avail of darshan, hawan and prasad facilities, the Board said in an official statement. Devotees can book their pooja online and priests at the shrine will offer the same in the former’s name and gotra. The devotee can virtually witness the process and see the deity via Jio Meet. The prasad will then be delivered to the devotee’s home, SASB CEO Nitishwar Kumar said.
The services can be booked through the board official website — www.shriamarnathjishrine.com — and by clicking on “book online pooja/hawan/prasad” link. The same can also be done using SASB’s mobile application that can be downloaded from Google Play Store.
The cost for virtual pooja is Rs 1,100; prasad booking (along with 5g silver coin of Amarnathji) is Rs 1,100; prasad booking (with 10g silver coin) is Rs 2,100 and Rs 5,100 for a special hawan or combination of any of the aforementioned services. Once the booking is done, SASB will share the link, date and time of the slotted service on the registered mobile number or email id of the devotee.
SASB is also launching a dedicated channel on My Jio TV app where devotees can get live darshan round-the-clock, the CEO added. Earlier, the Board had put in place a virtual and televised mechanism for live darshan of morning and evening aarti from the holy cave.