Keeping pace with the changing times, several priests have started performing online pind-daan for those who do not have the time to visit Bodh Gaya, Varanasi or Allahabad — the centres for the Hindu ritual. According to estimates, around 500 such pind daans were performed in Bodh Gaya alone with several more in Varanasi and Allahabad, mostly at the request of those living abroad.
To avail the service, one needs to provide details of the person being offered pind daan, his or her relationship with family members, age at which he/she died, reason of death, place and time of death, scanned or hard copy of his/her photograph etc.
Infact, the service is so popular that the priests face competition from katha wachaks or religious story tellers who charge anywhere between Rs 31,000 and Rs 41,000 per pind-daan. Also, some less technology savvy priests are falling behind in the service but for everyone else, including the client, it is a win-win situation.