RANCHI, INDIA, April 5, 2012 (India Times): An ancient Shiva temple, better known as Pahari Mandir because of its location atop a hill in the capital, will be the first temple here to seek online donations. The new system will be operational from the end of this month and devotees can offer prayers, prasad and donations to Pahari Baba online. Flowers and wood apple leaves (belpatra), offered to Lord Shiva, which was earlier thrown away, will now be collected and converted into bio-fertilizer.
The development trust has plans to introduce various facilities for devotees before the beginning of the monsoon season. Hari Jalan, treasurer of the mandir trust, said, “Saawan will start from July 4 when a large number of devotees will come to the temple to offer prayers. The committee has decided to start various facilities for the convenience of devotees, including installing a lift, making separate stairs for entry and exit, creating a shoe stand and installing an LCD screen at the entrance.”
Apart from being modernized, the temple will also be made environment friendly. The development trust has spoken to the forest department for greening the premises. A water tank with a capacity of 200,000 liters will be installed to water the trees that will be planted.